Books & Articles

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These are my books and articles. All are available in English and some also appear in French, Italian, Korean, Chinese and Japanese.

Click on a title in the list below to open its own page, with reviews and information about the book. Each title has a link to Amazon UK and Amazon.com so you can buy it there if you wish. (Public advisory message: if you buy on clicking from these pages, Amazon gives me money.)

You can also ask for my books at your school or public library. If the librarians don’t have copies in stock, they may be able to borrow one from another library for you, or – even better – buy one for their own shelves.

If you don’t have the money for all the books you want or need, borrowing from a library is the right way to get them for free. Many libraries belong to an international network that pays money to an author every time you take out one of his or her books. Downloading illegally is the wrong way, because then the people who worked long and hard to write and publish the book you’re enjoying get nothing back. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

So please, if you want my books and can’t buy them, support me by supporting your local library. Public libraries were my lifeline to a wider education and a better understanding of the world. For many people, they still are. Public libraries provide kids whose parents can’t or won’t buy books for them with a chance to read and explore. They offer people on low or no incomes a place to keep up with books, newspapers and magazines. They are one of the most precious resources of any civilised society. We can all support them by using them regularly, and voting for politicians who will keep them open.

Books

A Brief History Of Manga

The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga

UK edition: Ilex Press (Lewes) 2009, ISBN 1905814666

US Edition: Abrams ComicArts (New York) 2009, ISBN 0810982498

Winner of the Harvey Award for Best American Edition of Foreign Material in 2010 – the first non-fiction work to win this award, which had always gone to a US edition of a comic book or graphic novel. Also available in French and Italian.

Manga Cross-Stitch

UK edition pub Ilex (Lewes) 2009, ISBN 1905814518

US edition Andrews McMeel (USA) ISBN 0740779657

Artist and chara designer Steve Kyte was my co-author on this book. His amazing designs were so much fun to chart and are just as much fun to stitch. Mine are pretty good, too!

500 Essential Anime Movies

UK edition Ilex Press (Lewes) 2008, ISBN 978 0061474507

US edition Collins Design(USA) ISBN 978 0061474507

Another book where Steve’s expertise was enormously helpful. Without his help I would never have finished the picture research needed for this very image-heavy volume on our very tight schedule.

500 Manga Heroes and Villains

UK edition Collins & Brown (London) 2006, ISBN 1843492343

US edition Barron’s Educational Series (USA) ISBN 978 0764132018

This book expanded my manga horizons enormously: thanks to input from my old friend Dr. Darren-Jon Ashmore and others, I was able to find, read and understand a huge range of books not available in English at the time. It was so much fun to work on!

The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation since 1917 (with Jonathan Clements)

US second edition Stone Bridge Press (Berkeley, CA) 2006, ISBN 978 1933330105

UK edition Titan Books (London) ISBN 978 1845765002

This was the book I wanted to find when I first got into anime in 1981. The first edition appeared in 2001, so you could say I had a long wait.

Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation

Stone Bridge Press 1999, ISBN 978 1880656419

Buy from USA Buy from UK

The Erotic Anime Movie Guide, (with Jonathan Clements) Also available in Korean

UK edition Titan 1998, ISBN 185286 9461

US edition Overlook TP, ISBN

The Anime Movie Guide – Japanese Animation since 1983

UK edition Titan 1996, ISBN 185286 6314

US edition Overlook TP, ISBN 0879517816

Anime! A Beginner’s Guide To Japanese Animation

Titan 1993, ISBN 1852864923

Buy in UK Buy in US

Manga Manga Manga, A Celebration of Japanese Animation at the ICA

Island World Communications (London) 1992, ISBN 0952043408, now quite hard to find.

Buy in UK Buy in US

Articles in books on animation, film and comics

Several of my reviews and essays feature in Directory of World Cinema Japan Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 ed. John Berra. Topics I cover include the films of Tetsuya Nakashima, pioneering women of anime and the career of Rintaro; films I review include Fish Story and The Sky Crawlers.

Intellect Books (Bristol) Order UK Order US

Kawamoto Kihachiro The Puppet Master (in English and Chinese) in The 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival Main Catalogue

Available from HKIFF Society

A number of my reviews and short pieces feature in Manga Impact! The World of Japanese Animation, published by Phaidon

Buy in UK Buy in US

The development of the Japanese animation audience in the United Kingdom and France, in Animation in Asia and the Pacific, ed. John A. Lent

John Libbey (London) ISBN 978 1864620368

Indiana University Press (USA) ISBN 978 0253340351

My Neighbour Totoro in Animation: Art & Industry, ed. Maureen Furniss

John Libbey (London) ISBN 0861966805

Indiana University Press (USA) ISBN 0861966805

Manga, catalogue for the exhibition Manga, Comic Strip Books from Japan, Pomeroy Purdey Gallery (London) 1991, ed. Adam Lowe, includes one of my early essays: now quite hard to find.

Lowe Culture (London) 1991, ISBN 1 873184 02 6

Buy in UK Buy in US