A rollicking, eye-opening history of the Star Wars franchise: an unrivaled force in popular culture that changed the way Hollywood makes movies—and that is now imperiled by many of the industry forces it set in motion

From the premiere of the first film in 1977, the Star Wars franchise not only captured the imaginations of billions of people—and billions of dollars of revenue—but also rewrote the rules of the entertainment industry. Game-changing special effects, must-have collectibles, and the richness of George Lucas’s ever-expanding narrative gave rise to a new Hollywood model in which the boundary between screen and life collapsed. Star Wars wasn’t just a movie, after all: it was an alternate universe, a moral code, a way of life.

Over the last half-century, Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel explains, the Star Wars franchise has relied on an anti-establishment ethos, the savvy of executives, and the devotion of moviegoers to become a new American myth. But since its fateful acquisition by Disney in 2012, Star Wars has become a cautionary tale of Hollywood excess, and its present status as a corporate holding bears little resemblance to its origins. Drawing on scores of insider interviews and surveying fifty years of American culture and commerce, Schwartzel delivers fresh perspective on the Star Wars story, bringing to life the scrappy creative spirit of Lucasfilm’s early days; the box-office frenzy that rang in Hollywood’s blockbuster era and gave rise to a new industry playbook; and the scores of fans whose lives have been shaped by this singular force.

A panoramic narrative of dreams, obsession, and power, Rebels and Empires is the untold history of Hollywood’s most storied epic.