Rollberg has produced a well-researched second edition, significantly expanding the first edition (2009) with 130 new entries and an additional 100 new cross-references beyond the original 500-plus entries. Designed to promote Russian and Soviet cinema to scholars and the general public, this volume packs a wealth of information on a diverse selection of directors, screenwriters, actors, composers, designers, producers, cinematographers, studios, genres, and scores of individual art house and popular films into concise, one- to three-page entries. A prefatory 12-page chronology helpfully identifies first film screenings and feature-film productions, the founding of major studios, and international award-winning films of the now-independent former Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Lithuania, among others. The author's meaty 18-page introduction explores the impact on cinema of historical, cultural, and political events, including two World Wars, Stalinization, and the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991. A richly substantive bibliography of reference works, national cinematographies, monographs, diaries, letters, memoirs, and journals (largely in English, Russian, French, and German) concludes this noteworthy resource to encourage further research along this fascinating cinematic byway.

Summing Up:Highly recommended. All readership levels.

Choice Reviews

This hefty tome, in its second edition, is the definitive work on this topic, as its covers all three major political periods in what is now called Russia (including many liberated and independent countries that once were part of Russia): the Tsarist period, the Communist period, and the post-Communist state. The author grew up in the Communist Soviet Union, and lived near the Gor'kii Studio for Children's and Youth Films in Moscow. He even starred in the 1972 film Hurray! We Have Holidays! The dictionary begins with a detailed introduction which divides Russian and Soviet cinema into five eras: bourgeois commercial cinema (1896-1918); the birth of Soviet cinema (1918-30); the transition to sound and implementation of Stalinist values (1931-53); thaw, ‘stagnation,’ and final crisis (1954-85); and the end of Soviet cinema and beyond (1986-2015). The dictionary content itself is framed in the front by a substantial chronology, and in the back with an extensive bibliography that follows the five eras of the introduction. Overall, this reference work is a fantastic addition to any college or university library.

American Reference Books Annual

The book will prove to be an excellent resource for researchers of Russian and Soviet cinema. It should be on the shelf of educational establishments with film studies courses.

Reference Reviews

Now in its second edition, this handsome…hardcover tome introduces readers to a higher level of appreciation of Soviet cinema and marks a leap forward in the scholarship on the topic…. [Rollberg’s] chief success – greater than his mini-biographical entries or summaries of cinematic masterpieces, even – is his attention to the cinemas of the former Soviet republics. In this regard, Rollberg’s text is beyond competition…. Rollberg succeeds admirably. His comprehensive and thoughtfully organized research, along with his perspicuous prose, makes Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema an essential reference tool for any Russian and Soviet film maven.

Film International