Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine is an encyclopedia written by Tom Stevenson and Essi Avellan, published by Absolute Press, which is devoted to subjects relating to Champagne and sparkling wine. The foreword is written by Michael Broadbent. A smaller reduced version, Champagne & Sparkling Wine Guide, is published in the soft cover format. When first published in 1998, the book became the only wine book to warrant a leader in a UK national newspaper (The Guardian, October 14, 1998), for the first time revealing a 17th-century document proving that the English used a second fermentation to convert still wines into sparkling at least six years before Dom Pérignon arrived at the Abbey of Hautvillers, and nearly 40 years before the French claim that sparkling Champagne was invented. Although Le Figaro accused Stevenson of "trying to burn Dom Pérignon", the French were prompt to award it The Best Wine Book of 1998 at the Salon International du Livre Gourmand in Périgueux.Ranked among its "Top Ten Best Wine Books" by The Independent it has been characterised as "still the best guide to fizz", "authoritative, opinionated and comprehensive", and a vital purchase for any Champagne lover. Source: Wikipedia (en)