Published by Cassell & British Film Institute, 1995, softcover, large format, illustrated, 475 pages, very slight wear to cover, otherwise condition; as new.

On December 28, 1895, the Lumiere brothers demonstrated their cinematograph to 33 people in Paris. Despite Louis Lumiere's notorious declaration that "the cinema is an invention without a future, " the occasion marks the birth of the movies. Written to coincide with the 100th anniversary of this seminal event, "Encyclopedia of European Cinema" is a celebration of the scope and variety of film in all European countries. Compiled under the auspices of the prestigious British Film Institute, this uses the expertise of over 30 international authorities on the subject.

Produced under the auspices of the British Film Institute and comprised essentially of brief biographies of stars and directors, along with three- to six-page subjective historical essays on 26 national cinemas, EEC offers librarians an inexpensive overview of Continental film. Although there is no discussion of individual films, the genre entries?Italian spaghetti Westerns, Norwegian occupation dramas, etc.?are useful. This work is marred primarily by some entries lacking basic information (e.g., Riefenstahl's post-Nazi career) or simply stopping circa 1993. Readers seeking broad coverage of European cinema should place this alongside Richard Roud's excellent, thought-provoking Cinema: A Critical Dictionary (LJ 5/1/80) and the multivolume International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers (St. James, 1990. 2d ed.). Recommended for all film collections.