The Encyclopedia of Melbourne

'Cambridge University Press should be congratulated for carrying to completion this ambitious, generously illustrated and hugely entertaining encyclopedia.' Times Literary Supplement Great cities deserve great encyclopaedias.' So, confidently, the publishers proclaim their product. They are right to say so with this volume on Melbourne. The editors have developed a team of distinguished scholars ... each bring decades of their own research expertise on the city ... one of the most remarkable books seen in many years ... In a highly innovative approach, personal experiences are captured in a series of 'My Melbourne' entries ... There is simply no need to look further for some categories of information and in this sense the editors provide a springboard for future generations of student projects and local historical studies ... A generous use of images enriches the book. Many are superb contemporary lithographs of buildings, but ... It is a reference work for and about people, and people figure prominently in the images ... a pleasing, if heavy, physical appearance as well as an informative one ... If, as the dustjacket states, 'Great cities deserve great encyclopaedias' then Melbournians have a encyclopaedia and a city of which to be proud ... This is the type of volume that provides immense local historical interest ... distils decades of detailed research in a digestible form.' Journal of Urban History