Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture

Over the weekend, I saw an early copy of Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture, by Peter Kobel. Wow! The book looks great - it will certainly be THE silent film book to get this year. It is gorgeous - full of black and white and color illustrations, many of them little seen and new to my eyes. There is also a two page spread on Louise Brooks in this new book.

The book features a preface by Martin Scorcese and a foreword by Kevin Brownlow. Here is the publisher's description: "A gorgeous, lavish history of silent movies - with more than 400 amazing images - captures the birth of film and icons like Chaplin, Garbo, Clara Bow, and Valentino.Drawing on the extraordinary collection of The Library of Congress, one of the greatest repositories for silent film and memorabilia, Peter Kobel has created the definitive visual history of silent film.From its birth in the 1890s, with the earliest narrative shorts, through the brilliant full-length features of the 1920s, SILENT MOVIES captures the greatest directors and actors and their immortal films. SILENT MOVIES also looks at the technology of early film, the use of color photography, and the restoration work being spearheaded by some of Hollywood's most important directors, such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Richly illustrated from the Library of Congress's extensive collection of posters, paper prints, film stills, and memorabilia-most of which have never been in print - SILENT MOVIES is an important work of history that will also be a sought-after gift book for all lovers of film."