Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise Fans, Merchandise, and Critics

«Star Wars is the most important franchise in the history of American popular culture, and Kapell and Lawrence’s ‘Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, and Critics’ is the most important book about Star Wars. This collection of well-written and engaging essays examines the Star Wars phenomenon from a variety of important and revealing perspectives. It is a ‘must have’ for any Star Wars fan, or for anyone interested in the dynamic interplay of popular culture and society.» (Gary Hoppenstand, Editor, The Journal of Popular Culture)



«These essays place the dynamics of the twentieth century’s most wide-reaching science fiction phenomenon in a meaningful cultural and political context.» (Javier Martinez, Editor, Extrapolation)

«Star Wars is the most important franchise in the history of American popular culture, and Kapell and Lawrence’s ‘Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, and Critics’ is the most important book about Star Wars. This collection of well-written and engaging essays examines the Star Wars phenomenon from a variety of important and revealing perspectives. It is a ‘must have’ for any Star Wars fan, or for anyone interested in the dynamic interplay of popular culture and society.» (Gary Hoppenstand, Editor, The Journal of Popular Culture)



«These essays place the dynamics of the twentieth century’s most wide-reaching science fiction phenomenon in a meaningful cultural and political context.» (Javier Martinez, Editor, Extrapolation)

The Editors: Matthew Wilhelm Kapell edited, with William G. Doty, Jacking in to the Matrix Franchise (2004). An anthropologist and historian, he has published on topics as diverse as the genetics of human growth, utopian thought, and Christian romance fiction. John Shelton Lawrence is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa. He wrote, with Robert Jewett, Captain America and the Crusade against Evil (2003) and the multiple award-winningThe Myth of the American Superhero (2002).