THE AVENGERS (British Film Institute, 1997/Indiana UP, 1998)

Selected as the British Film Institute's Book of the Month, November 1997 and March 1998.

J. G. Ballard described it as 'a witty and entertaining history' in the "Summer Reading" segment of the Sunday Times 21 June 1998.

Stories in Daily Telegraph 25 August 1997, Elle Singapore August 1998, Marie Claire November 1997,and HQ November-December 1998.

Peterborough, "Any Old Irony." Daily Telegraph 21 October 1997, Editorial Page, who says 'Prof Miller has done a fine job and earned himself a Peterborough Festival of Film Studies.' This lasted the next two days of the column, featuring quotations from the book.

Vera Rule, "Take a Footnote, Mrs Peel." The Guardian 31 October 1997: SCREEN 11, describes it as 'the most delicious example yet of a don gowned by choice in an anorak. He couldn't be more out of the closet about it … He's pretty witty, too.We loved his in-depth research into contemporary sexual fantasy in Soho phone boxes.'

Philip Hoare, "The Avengers." Times Literary Supplement no. 4941 (12 December 1997): 25 finds the book '[m]aking elegant use of fact, anecdote and semiotic analysis … in precise, intellectual detail. … To temper the seriousness with which he approaches his subject, Miller can also be indulgently playful.'

Nick Setchfield, "The Avengers." Cult TV 2, no. 1 (1998): 80 describes it as 'a smart and insightful read. After so many fact-fuelled volumes, it's refreshing to find a book that examines the show with real intelligence. … And all that leather-obsessed fetishism is deconstructed in fine detail. … an intriguing addition to the Avengers bookshelf.'

Peter Matthews, "The Avengers." Sight and Sound 8, no. 2 (1998): 32 finds 'fascinating bits on, for instance, Mrs Peel's replacement by the much-maligned Tara King.'

Howard Maxford, "Books." Film Review February 1998: 78 says 'Toby Miller takes a highly informative look at the cult TV show, taking in its influence on pop art and fashion.'

Liesl Schillinger, "English Leather." New York Times Book Review 22 February 1998 describes the book as 'a resource for die-hard connoiseurs with a taste for pop semiology… often titillating … he writes with sheepish self-deprecation … enough humour to see the absurdity of submitting such a fanciful subject to turgid critique … renarrating choice episodes like a tireless but confident joke reteller.' Reprinted in the Australian Financial Review.

Cleaver Patterson, "The Avengers."TV Zone no. 100 (1998): 94 says 'its look at the sexual influences of the show is intriguing… Miller picks up on subtle references to sexual equality and role reversal … Miller's book takes a scholarly (even academic) approach to the series, yet is none the worse for that. Indeed it makes a refreshing change for the series … to be taken seriously.'

Carolyn Banks, "Catsuits and Champagne." Washington Post 22 March 1998 and International Herald-Tribune 18 April 1998 says it is a 'book that delights in using 50-cent words … but which I nonetheless adored reading … a lot of fun stuff.'

David Browne, "The Avengers." Entertainment Weekly no. 425 (3 April 1998): 88 describes the book as 'well-researched, well-considered.'

Peter Craven, "Sixties Myths Keep Swinging Back." The Australian 11 November 1998: 36 says it is 'informative … has the singular advantage of reminding you of why you liked the television show in the first place … a kind of post-Marxist fast-talking political allegory … beautifully illustrated … the kind of thing Avengers fans will kill for … he has certainly done his research.'

<Amazon.com> writes 'John Steed and Emma Peel meet trendy academe, and all three end up winners. … Miller's pop culture is a pleasure to read. … Miller's study, as modish as the series it is in love with, can be enjoyed on several levels.'

<Amazon.com>'s Pop Culture Editor writes that it is 'one of the strangest and best books on popular culture to come out in the last several years. Ostensibly a study of the sexy-hip British television series … this book is all it claims to be and much more. While fans of the series will find everything their hearts could desire, what is really presented is an in-depth introduction to the ideas and theories of pop and postmodernism. Using the show as a testing ground for the concepts of contemporary academic criticism, Toby Miller has produced a book that is eminently readable, rigorously researched, and eye-openingly informative. Providing a history of popular culture in explications of the development of "fans," the meaning of postmodernism, the point of pop, and the truth of genre, Miller's book is endlessly fun, never turning into the dull exercise in manipulating jargon that so much theorizing devolves into. In fact, the intellectual aspect is so well camouflaged that one could easily mistake The Avengers for pure entertainment.'

Interviewed on Arts National, Radio National Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio, November 1997; Drive Time, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio, December 1997; Weekend All Things Considered, National Public Radio, March 1998; and Morning Show; Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio, September 1998.

Selected by Bloomberg Information Television as one of its Five Books of the Week, April 1998.

Social Semiotics 8, no. 1 (1998): 152 describes it as 'a comprehensive, acute, and thoroughly engaging study.'

James DiGiovanna, "Mod, Mod World." Tucson Weekly 13 April 1998 reviews the book: 'one of the best and clearest books on the confluence of post-modern academic theorizing and popular culture. … A primer in all things pomo, a look at the way contemporary culture theory can use something as mundane as a show about a woman in a leather catsuit to illuminate a moment in the modern zeitgeist. … Miller is well armed with a knowledge of French post-structuralism and American media studies. He never succumbs to the temptations of jargon, though … he produces a satisfying book for the fan while never betraying his academic rigor.'

Michael Chesterton, "Social Studies: A Daily Miscellany of Information." Toronto Globe & Mail 22 April 1998 quotes the book.

M. J. Miller, Review. Choice 35, nos. 11-12 (1998): 1846 describes it as 'readable, scholarly.… Appropriate for a wide readership.'

John Linsenmeyer, Review. Greenwich Time 27 May 1998 says it is 'a serious treatise.'

Brian Murray, "Mrs. Peel and Mr. Steed: Remembering the Original Avengers." Weekly Standard 29 June 1998: 37-39 reviews the book favorably.

Playboy, "Avenging Angels." July 1998 reviews the book.

Chad A. Martin, Review. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 18, no. 3 (1998): 458-59 finds it 'systematic in looking at the characteristics of the show and exploring its appeal,' noting 'interviews with informants from a variety of countries' and that the 'book successfully illustrates [that] The Avengers was strangely divorced from history.' He states that 'the viewers' attraction to these characters and the chemistry between them ... make Miller's most convincing points about the show's appeal. .… Miller convincingly argues that the show's characters and unique mixture of camp and bloodless violence elevates it above its peers. … Miller explores the many levels the series worked at, the appeal it held for a diverse audience and its unique place in the history of British television ... it successfully encourages close viewing and serious consideration of the absurd.'

David Marc Fischer, "Avenging Evil." Newcity Chicago 17 August 1998 reviews the book.

Interviewed for two hours in <Borders.com>'s NetCafe Live 26 August 1998.

Anna Dzenis, "'… I Was the Woman and She Was the Man…'—Patrick Macnee." UTS Review 4, no. 2 (1998): 251-54 states that: 'Television studies has for too long been dominated by those who wish to decry it—Miller's book asks us to think differently and to consider what it is about The Avengers that we truly love. In endeavouring to answer these questions he makes an important contribution.'

Fritz Jacobi, "Review and Comment: Books in Brief." Television Quarterly 29, no. 4 (1998): 71-73 describes it as 'heavily illustrated, elegantly produced, frequently entertaining … some illuminating insights into the underlying reasons for the program's appeal.'

Niall Levine, Review. Communication Booknotes Quarterly 30, no. 1 (1999): 39-40 finds the book a 'finely documented and lavishly illustrated critique … a must for all fans of this British television icon as well as for those interested in the genre of 20th century feminism in popular culture … much needed.'

Jonathan David Tankel, Review. Journal of Communication 49, no. 3 (1999): 202-04 says it is 'important and fascinating … a critical tour de force … a multidisciplinary demonstration of how to study popular culture texts … a well-conceived and well-written study … the author clearly utilizes a range of knowledge and skills that are encompassed by a broad definition of media (in this case television) studies. He skillfully weaves appropriate production terminology with the vocabulary of cultural studies … brings much-needed sophistication to television studies. This book demonstrates how a television series needs to be assessed as an aesthetic enterprise, as an industrial product, and as a cultural artifact. … Miller developed a mechanism to include the most difficult aspect of media studies: the audience. Through the use of cyberinformants from the U.S. and Europe, he has weaved the voice of the fan in with traditional research resources … a deft use of evidence … a wonderful read. Many of the books written for our discipline do not display a synthesis of careful, creative scholarship and a sense for popular appeal. As well, may of the books written for the discipline do not display literary flair. This book succeeds on all counts. … Miller's conceptualization and execution lifts The Avengers to a level of scholarship that future studies of popular culture should emulate.'

European Journal of Communication. Review. 14, no. 1 (1999): 141-42 describes it as 'carefully researched.'

Complete Review <http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/millert/avengers.htm> says 'Miller is very good in presenting the background to the series, and placing it in the context of the time in which it was shown … he ties the many strands together well … comprehensive and satisfying.'

Chez.com <http://www.chez.com/renzo/livres.htm> says 'C'est une sorte de petit miracle que Toby Miller accomplit avec ce livre …rigueur d'un travail universitaire—la bibliographie comprend un nombre appréciable de références, et une vaste consultation via l'Internet a été organisée par l'auteur—intérêt de l'ouvrage pour le grand public et …cette pointe d'humour britannique' [Toby Miller has accomplished a kid of miracle with this book …the rigor of scholarly research—the bibliography includes many references, and the author has consulted widely through the Internet—appeal to the general public, and … the point of British humor].