Book excerpt: "To Kill a Mockingbird "is an immensely important work of literature studied worldwide. Literature and film students will find plenty of material to support their courses on how the film versions provide different readings of the original text. Focusing on several film versions and adaptations, the book discusses the literary work in its historical context, its key themes and dominant readings, how it has been adapted for screen, and how adaptations have changed our reading of the original text. R. Barton Palmer is a Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature and a professor of film, screenwriting, and British literature at Clemson University in South Carolina. He is the author of many books on literature and film.