“Star Wars” Was Based On A True Story

A galaxy far, far away looks awfully familiar.

Say what you will about Star Wars, it is a vastly rich universe full of literally thousands of years of its own history. However, it is still a fictional universe. Star Wars and History aims to analyze the main historical beats and parallels that influenced Lucas and others when creating a galaxy far, far away.

From Tatooine as a reflection of the lawless American West to the link between Jedi and Templar Knights, from our own Death Stars (atomic bombs) to Princess Leia’s origins in French Resistance fighting, Star Wars has a long, intimate relationship with humanity’s sordid past.

Photo credit: “Star Wars and History,” edited by Nancy R. Reagin and Janice Liedl, published by Wiley, November 2012