Scholarly and popular interest in British cinema has never been stronger, with films ranging from the Merchant/Ivory pictures through Notting Hill finding both critical and commercial success in America. As such, The Guide to British Cinema represents an invaluable guide to the nation's cinematic output, including entries on major British actors, directors, and films from 1929 through the present day. The volume also highlights both major cycles such as the Gainsborough melodrama, the Ealing comedy, and the British new wave; as well as less well-defined cycles including the vein of dark melodramas that characterized the British cinema from 1945 to 1950.

Such figures as Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, and Dirk Bogarde are covered in detail, as well as Christopher Lee, Roy Ward Baker, Ray Winstone, and other long-serving but less well-known artists. The Guide pays close attention to films including The Third Man and Brief Encounter as well as genre pieces such as Brighton Rock. In all, the volume represents the first full-length examination of its subject, providing an irreplaceable resource for both film scholars and historians of British culture.