Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle [Hardcover]

Ryder Windham (Author), Daniel Wallace (Author), Pablo Hidalgo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 19, 2010

From the first release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977 to the 2009 second season of The Clone Wars, Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle is an unparalleled chronological journey through the making of the most epic science fiction series ever! Featuring incredible illustrations and stills, the book chronologically details the history and development of the Star Wars movies; the events, press, and logistics surrounding the making of each movie; and exclusive interviews with people who worked behind the scenes. The year-by-year format includes images from the movies, TV series, comic books, video games, and novels as well as movie posters, memorabilia, book covers, and more.

(c) 2009 Lucasfilm Ltd. (r) & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A huge and lavish Star Wars title perfect as a gift for fans this Christmas -- Joe Browes The Bookseller 20100521 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Pablo Hidalgo<BR>
An expert on a variety of genre obsessions, from classic animation to shape-shifting robots, Pablo Hidalgo started
writing about fantastic subject matters professionally in 1995 as a freelance author for roleplaying games. In 2000,
he changed careers from a visual effects concept artist and digital compositor in Canada to a full-time Star Wars
authority at Lucasfilm Ltd., working in their online department. Since then, he has overseen the development of
websites, co-authored several books and developed a number of online comic books and strips. He is currently
managing editor for StarWars.com, overseeing daily publication of content as well as developing special online spin-
off projects for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He lives in San Francisco.
<BR><BR>
Gus Lopez<BR>
Gus Lopez created The Star Wars Collector's Archive (theswca.com) in 1994 the first Star Wars collecting website
on the Internet. He has written many articles on Star Wars collecting for various publications over the years
including a column on Star Wars collectibles for Star Wars Insider. He has given talks on Star Wars
collecting at many toy, science fiction, and Star Wars conventions in Europe, Asia, and North America. Gus ran the
Star Wars collecting tracks for the four Star Wars Celebration events in the US, Celebration Europe in the UK, and
Celebration Japan. He is coauthor (with Duncan Jenkins) of Gus and Duncan's Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars
Collectibles published by Completist Publications, the largest Star Wars collecting guide ever assembled. Gus
lives in Seattle with his wife, Pamela.
<BR><BR>
Daniel Wallace <BR>
Daniel Wallace is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Characters
as well as a dozen more books that explore the underpinnings of the Star Wars universe, such as Star Wars: The
Essential Atlas and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. He is a regular contributor to Star Wars
Insider magazine and assembled the questions used in the Star Wars Trivial Pursuit game. In addition to his
contributions to the galaxy far, far away, he has written for universes including Indiana Jones, Smallville,
Supernatural, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics, with books including The Marvel Encyclopedia, The DC
Comics Chronicle, and The Art of Superman Returns.
<BR><BR>
Ryder Windham<BR>
Ryder Windham is the author of over sixty Star Wars titles, including Star Wars Blueprints: The Ultimate
Collection and the New York Times-bestseller Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide. He has written
junior novelizations of Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies and scripted numerous comics. An occasional freelance
cartoonist and storyboard artist, he is an instructor and Certificate Program Advisor for Comics and Sequential Art at
Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education.<BR><BR>

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: DK Publishing (July 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756657644
• ISBN-13: 978-0756657642
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 10.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #466,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect gift for the fan who has everything because this book chronicles everything September 4, 2010

By DWD TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

DK Publishing continues a trend of producing lavish coffee table books filled with page after page of montages of full color images. In this case, the topic is the Star Wars phenomenon.

This coffee table book is very large - one inch thick, 10 inches wide and nearly a foot high. My copy does not have the color cover featured by Amazon, but rather it is black and white with very similar photos of the exact same characters in the exact same positions on the page. I did verify that it is the same book by using Amazon's sneak peek feature.

This book could just as easily have been called "George Lucas Year by Year." Star Wars dominates Lucas's career like the Eiffel Tower dominates the Paris skyline. Perhaps, even more so.

As the title states, the book is a visual timeline of George Lucas, Star Wars and the people and companies involved in its production and promotion. We see early handwritten notes about "Journal of the Whills" - one of the first drafts of Star Wars Episode IV. Later on, we see further updates, including the introduction of a character named Luke Starkiller who, of course, became Luke Skywalker in later revisions. We learn about Lucas's early life, his early films and his influences and a bit about the research he did to create the series.

Included in the timelines are other bits of news about movies, politics and space exploration. For example, on pages 34 & 35 we read about July through December 1974 which includes the first draft of the script for Episode IV, some very early drawings for the TIE Fighters, X-Wings and the Death Star, Nixon resigning as President, the birth of the actor that played Darth Maul in Episode I, early plastic models of the Y-Wing Fighters, the release of "The Godfather: Part II" (the director is a colleague and friend of Lucas), the production of the first script for another Lucas movie - "The Radioland Murders" and Christopher Lee's (Episodes II & III) role in a James Bond movie. Every picture has a detailed caption and the story goes on for page after page after page.

It is a fascinating read. I particularly enjoyed the pictures and descriptions of the Star Wars dolls that I collected and nearly wore out as a child. There is also information on the different videogames, novels, radio dramas, fan magazines, board games, fan clubs, appearances on TV shows, the famed Star Wars Christmas Special, John Williams, the cartoon shows, the Lego sets and even the Darth Vader Mr. Potato Head toy.

Lavish, thorough, massive and entertaining - this promises to be a hit with any fan. A can't miss gift.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book September 13, 2010

By maximom229

Format:Hardcover

My autistic son has everything Star Wars and never wants other stuff and we'd run out of ideas for his birthday so this came out just in time. This books is great, you're Star Wars fan will love it! I bought 2 copies of this book because my nephew has the same Star Wars fetish and he loves his too!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars star wars January 2, 2011

By dmgray

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

My son, 37 yrs old, has been a stars wars fan for years. This is a great addition to his collections, he put his nose into the book and could not get it out. He loves it.