"A welcome overview of the major themes and tactics of Shub's documentary practice, and of her reception in the West . Sharp's description of the many moments when Shub lingers on female subjects allows the reader to imagine what her unrealised script for a film to be called Women might have looked like." -- Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema "The first book-length study about this extraordinarily important and surprisingly understudied figure of early Soviet cinema . rooted in a remarkable pool of secondary and primary sources" -- The Russian Review "This fascinating and comprehensive study is the first book devoted to the career of a truly remarkable woman who pioneered the compilation documentary, contributed significantly to the Soviet avant-garde in its "golden age," and left behind an unmatched oeuvre of political documentaries. It will be the standard work on Shub and her films for years to come." -- Denise Youngblood, Professor Emerita, University of Vermont, USA "At last, we have the scholarly monograph Esfir Shub so richly deserves. Sharp has done her subject proud." -- Graham Roberts, Emeritus Professor, Leeds Trinity University, UK "Ilana Shub Sharp's book is a work of painstaking research and thoughtful scholarship that illuminates the life and career of Esfir Shub.

More than that, it is a labour of love and, above all, a heartfelt plea for a proper appreciation not only of Shub's ground-breaking films but also of her vision, at once exhilarating and forlorn, of cinema's social mission." -- James Donald, Emeritus Professor of Film Studies, University of New South Wales, Australia.