Some call them home movies; others call them "Memories in Motion." While dozens of books have been written about movie history, few have given more than a cursory look at the history of what some consider motion pictures' stepchild, home movies. Alan Kattelle makes up for the oversight, and in the process provides one of the most readable histories of amateur motion picture photography and much of the photographic industry in general. Kattelle starts with the frequently overlooked fact that from mankind's beginning, pictures that show motion have fascinated people. His proof begins with the cave man and provides the reader with hundreds of illustrations that support the book's sprightly written commentary. He continues with the evolution of efforts to record motion from Muybridge to Edison, and others less well-known. He helps the reader not only understand why people like the emotional effect that motion pictures, amateur and professional, have on them, but also about the means by which they were achieved. To accomplish this, Kattelle has distilled a phenomenal amount of resource material into this eminently readable volume. This a book will become the standard reference work on the history of equipment, films, and personalities involved in the production of amateur motion pictures.

Joe A. Bailey, Ph.D., Editor The Photographic Historical Society Newsletter Rochester, New York