"One Thousand Nights at the Movies" is a sumptuous volume filled with candid photos from the 1915 and before period, photos of studios, tons of photos of advertising material and even more photos of early nickelodeons (quite interesting). All are quality reproductions printed on glossy paper. The book is not necessarily a "read through from beginning to end," but instead a smorgasbord of vignettes that allow the reader to skip around, go back to something you passed over, or settle on one of 18 chapter that may interest you such as "Planning the Picture Show," "Movies in Parks and Outdoors," or "Posters, Publicity and Excitement." The "vignettes" that comprise this chapter bear titles such as "All-Purpose Posters" that discusses the various types of posters, "The Vitagraph Idea" wherein the studio had the idea to include still pictures on their posters, "Controversial Posters," The Importance of Posters," and, as you can see, almost any aspect of movie posters you may want. Authors Q. David Bowers and Kathryn Fuller-Seely have pulled together a vivid, comprehensive overview of this period of filmmaking that is sure to please. One could spend a few hours just poring over the amazing array of photos. A great book for the casual reader, as well as the serious researcher - a book anyone can have fun with.

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