The Cassell Dictionary of Italian Literature includes some 400 entries on major and minor Italian writers from the twelfth century to the present day; on Italian metrics and poetic forms or genres; and on literary or critical schools, periods, problems and movements. In addition there are specific entries on Italian Literature, Film and art, as well as feminism, post-modernism and other topics of contemporary interest.

Peter Bondanella was the author of a number of groundbreaking books such as: Hollywood Italians, The Cinema of Federico Fellini, and The Films of Roberto Rossellini. In 2009, he was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and the Arts for his contributions to the history of the Italian cinema and his translations or editions of Italian literary classics (Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Vasari, Cellini). He was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, Film Studies and Italian at Indiana University Bloomington, USA.