"This new study of Eisenstein is the compleat introduction to the great director and his oeuvre. Like any good creative biography, it seeks to understand the relationship between the artist and the times in which he lived . . . This small book is well illustrated and written in an engaging and highly readable style that recommends it to a broad readership . . . Highly recommended." - Film and History"Mike O'Mahoney is to be congratulated on producing an authoritative and persuasive biography of Sergei Eisenstein . . . I can offer no higher praise than to say that, had I ever got round to writing a biography of Eisenstein myself, I hope that it might have been half as good as this one!" - Richard Taylor, Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema"[OMahonys] judicious study synthesizes the best of the extensive Eisenstein literature in English into a lucid, if now familiar, portrait . . . O'Mahony's readings of the films are alert to telling details and provide context. A good basic bibliography tops off a compelling, accessible volume. Recommended." - Choice"Richly contextualising these peaks and troughs, O'Mahony oscillates between detailed illumination of the ever-changing socio-political mores in which Eisenstein produced his work, and close readings of these works to demonstrate the sometimes conflicting, sometimes coinciding pushes and pulls of Eisenstein's evolving artistic style and the political necessities of cultural practice in the Soviet Union. The resultant work is a taut, involving, and eminently readable 219-pages . . . a rewarding and economical shot of knowledge." - Media-Culture Journal