Described in the "Saturday Review of Literature" as O. . . the best writings on Chaplin in any language, O this edition analyzes all of Chaplin's important appearances on the screen and also traces his descent back through Dan Leno, Grimaldi, Pierrot and Punch, to the earliest laughter-maker of them all.

Robert Payne's highly praised histories and biographies include The Rise and Fall of Stalin, the Life and Death of Lenin and Ivan the Terrible.