Includes bibliographical references (p. 139) and index.

The evolution of the book jacket -- The impact of Modernism : the 1920s and 1930s -- The modernist jacket -- Designing in monochrome -- Graphic innovation -- Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious -- Victor Gollancz -- Classic novels -- Strange and surreal -- Barnett Freedman -- Penguin : the creation of a brand -- Early paperback series -- Colour and printing -- The author as artist -- Dutch graphic design -- The creation of style : the 1940s to the 1960s -- Lettering -- Edward McKnight Kauffer -- European writers -- Bond novels -- Science fiction -- Alvin Lustig -- Through the keyhole -- American classic novels -- Penguin and the paperback -- Kitchen-sink novels -- Discreetly scandalous : Lolita -- The pulp fiction jacket -- American graphic artists -- The American thriller -- The beat generation -- Playing with typography -- British classic novels -- A revolution in print : the 1960s and 1970s -- Psychedelia -- Exploring the erotic -- Len Deighton -- Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar -- Paul Rand -- The British crime novel -- The paperback explosion : Penguin -- The paperback explosion : other publishers -- Cold War paranoia -- The times they are a-changin' -- Poetry -- Classic novels -- Counter culture -- Agatha Christie -- Design in the digital age : the 1980s and 1990s -- Faber and Faber -- Picador -- Harvill Press -- Bloomsbury -- The postmodern novel -- Penguin : new designs -- Pocket canons -- Black Sparrow Press -- Andrzej Klimowski -- Granta -- Jeff Fisher -- Indigo -- Rebel Inc -- Grove Atlantic.