The French New Wave was perhaps the biggest - and briefest - explosion in the history of world cinema, with over one hundred French directors shooting a debut feature between 1958 and 1964, and one whose aftershocks are still being felt today. Through the work of directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut, filmmakers came to be seen as outstanding artists rather than mere studio technicians, paving the way for contemporary cinematic auteurs such as Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodovar and Luc Besson. To understand this important movement, this volume first traces the social and cultural changes of post-war France that led to the New Wave before examining in detail the careers of artists such as Alain Renais and Jean-Luc Godard. "The French New Wave" forms a concise and readable account of one of the truly essential movements in film history.