Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears

The author of the New York Times bestseller Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep returns with a lively history of the Academy Awards, focusing on the brutal battles, the starry rivalries, and the colorful behind-the-scenes Hollywood drama.

America does not have royalty. It has the Academy Awards. For nine decades, perfectly coiffed starlets, debonair leading men, and producers with gold in their eyes have chased the elusive Oscar. What began as an industry banquet in 1929 has now exploded into a hallowed ceremony, complete with red carpets, envelopes, and little gold men. But don't be fooled by the pomp: the Oscars, more than anything, are a battlefield, where this gripping film history-and that of America itself-unfolds in dramas large and small. The road to the Oscars may be golden, but it's paved in blood, sweat, and broken hearts.

In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas-some iconic, others never-before-revealed-that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes. Caught in the crossfire are people: their thwarted ambitions, their artistic epiphanies, their messy collaborations, their dreams fulfilled or dashed.

Featuring a star-studded cast of some of the most powerful Hollywood players of today and yesterday, as well as outsiders who stormed the palace gates, this captivating Oscar history is a collection of revelatory tales, each representing a turning point for the Academy, for the movies, or for the culture at large.

This meticulously researched Hollywood history goes beyond the red carpet to uncover:

• Hollywood Blacklist: Uncover the secret story of the writers who won Oscars while officially banned from the industry.
• Brutal Best Picture Battles: Relive the legendary campaign wars, including the clash between Shakespeare in Love and Saving Private Ryan.
• #OscarsSoWhite: Explore the explosive reckoning over race that culminated in the chaotic anointing of Moonlight as Best Picture.
• Legendary Rivalries: Go behind the curtain with the power players, the thwarted ambitions, and the iconic personal dramas that unfolded off-camera.
• Cultural Turning Points: Follow the Academy from its turbulent birth at the hands of Louis B. Mayer to the Harvey Weinstein scandal that shook the palace gates.