Publications: books
Archive: Imagining the East End
by Susan Andrews and Nicholas Haeffner
Published by Black Dog Publishing, 2014
The book is a companion to the East End Archive, an online digital research for archiving photographic projects associated with the East End of London. The book contains work by Jo Spence, Tom Hunter, Susan Andrews, Mick Williamson, David George, Brian Griffin, Don McCullin and many others.
‘An invaluable addition to British photographic archives and the attendant discourses and debates that are examined in the variety of approaches to the subject showcased in the book.’ Paul Hill MBE, Visiting Professor, De Montfort University and University of Derby
'The Cass East End archive is a brilliant idea. It's a wonderful and necessary project and resource' Grace Lau, photographer and author.
‘Throughout the UK Museums, libraries, historical societies, government agencies, charities and trusts are wrestling with how better to understand the digital archive…The East End Archive at the Cass is a leader in the field.’ Zelda Cheatle
Alfred Hitchcock:
Alfred Hitchcock
by Nicholas Haeffner
Published by Longman 2005
A comprehensive introduction to Alfred Hitchcock's major British and Hollywood films, navigating students through a wealth of critical commentaries.
'This book is less interested in the concept of the Freudian unconscious or the torment said to lurk deep inside Hitchcock. Instead, the force that has been called Hitchcock;s genius will be seen to originate not in his psyche or personality, but in his objective social and economic situation. As such, his films are seen to emerge out of class relations, cultural traditions, economic necessities, industrial imperatives, friendships, alliances and enmities.'
From the introduction
'There have been innumerable critical books written about Alfred Hitchcock. Some of them have been dim and shallow, others opaque and jargon-written and still others like Nick Haeffner's book are critically penetrating, knowledgable and written with consumate clarity.'
Leonard Quart, Professor Emeritus of Cinema Studies at City University of New York.
'This is an accessible, fascinating and elegantly written study which provides many insightful readings and which sends the reader back to the films with renewed appreciation.'
Simon Avery, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Westminster.
'In Alfred Hitchcock, Nicholas Haeffner sets himself the usual impossible goals for a critical study on a major film maker, attempting to provide a comprehensive introduction to Hitchcock's major British and Hollywood films that is accessible to students and general readers, sophisticated and argumentative enough to appeal to critics and professors, and alert and responsive to the vast realm of commentary and debate on Hitchcock, let alone the far reaches of Hitchcock's own work - all this in slightly more than 100 pages. Much to his credit, he has more than a little success in each of those areas and the read of this book will come away with much solid information about Hitchcock's life, career and persona, a good grounding in what Hitchcock had to say about his approach to film making and a useful exposure to some of the key issues in Hitchcock criticism.'
Sidney Gottlieb, Professor of English at Sacred Heart University, editor of Hitchcock on Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock Interviews and the Hitchcock Annual.
'As a a single succinct text to introduce Hitchcock and his films, Nicholas Haeffner's Alfred Hitchcock stands out. With admirable objectivity, it draws on the vast literature about, and by, Hitchcock, to inform the reader of the way the director thought and worked and how his films are generally seen.'
Ken Mogg, author of The Alfred Hitchcock Story and editor of The Macguffin website.
'The most obviously praiseworthy aspect of Haeffner's Alfred Hitchcock is the often elegant way he draws upon the extended tradition of Hitchcock criticism to elaborate his picture of Hitchcock's place in cultural and cinematic history without appearing overly dutiful or weighed down by precendent...Though [readers] may not fully appreciate the skill and thoughtfulness of Haeffner's synthetic account of Hitchcock's career and cultural force, they will be well served, in the main, by Haeffner's historical and thematic approach; by the book's end, they will have engaged with most of the standard topics in Hitchcock study with a surprising degree of sophistication, given the book's admirable brevity and accessibility.'
Leland Poague, Hitchcock scholar and editor of The Alfred Hitchcock Reader.
'A fascinating read...full of what I instinctively feel about the business of film making.'
Tony Grisoni, screenwriter (previous credits include
films directed by Terry Gilliam and Michael Winterbottom).