In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas 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 history is a collection of revelatory tales, each representing a turning point for the Academy, for the movies, or for the culture at large.

Introduction.A little too scared to hope -- You ain't heard nothin' yet, 1927-29: the Academy's turbulent birth -- Rebels, 1933-39: Frank Capra and the attack of the guilds -- War! 1942: the plot against Citizen Kane -- The greatest star, 1951: all about an extraordinary Best Actress race -- Who is Robert Rich? 1947-60: three screenwriters and the Hollywood blacklist -- X, 1970: the counterculture takes the Oscars -- Running the asylum, 1976: the Oscars fly over the cuckoo's nest -- Fiasco, 1989: Allan Carr and the "worst Oscars ever" -- The Harveys, 1999: Shakespeare in Love vs. Saving Private Ryan -- Tokens, 1940, 1964, 2002: Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier, and Halle Berry make history -- The envelope, 2017: #OscarsSoWhite and a chaotic night -- Afterword: Gettin' jiggy wit it.