In Warner Bros.: Hollywood’s Ultimate Backlot, studio staff historian and Hollywood insider Steven Bingen takes us where no studio tour has taken us before.

Image Credit: Taylor Trade Publishing

Named after founding siblings Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack, Warner Bros. has a storied history that Bingen provides in a well-organized manner.

When people think of a movie studio, they think of the wondrous, magical locales where films are created–in some instances, legends. But for many of us that are not celebrities or working behind the scenes, we don’t have access to these playgrounds where the magic is made. It’s hidden from our view and that’s despite the fact that some studios offer tours. Despite these tours, very few guests from outside of Hollywood have played witness to the artistry, politics, and scandals that take place behind the soundstge walls and away from those scenes visible to tourists riding the tram.

After previously writing about MGM in MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot, Bingen opens the iron gates and takes us on a tour of Warner Bros., considered to be the greatest and most mysterious movie studio to them all.

The studio has played home to the biggest stars and memorable films and television shows while the studio lot has also functioned as a small city. The lot is considered to be even more fascinating, glamorous, and outrageous than those stars or films and shows it has played host to over the past ninety years.

There are 46 color photos and 104 black and white photos in this 276-page book on Warner Bros. These photos and maps accompany a revealing backstory that provides a ticket to what was a previously veiled Hollywood paradise.