Bøker av Simon Garfield

Maps have the most amazing stories. Suitable for mapophiles, this book offers narratives on everything from the challenge of mapping the oceans to spellbinding treasure maps to the naming of America, from Churchill's crucial war maps to the lay-out of a Monopoly board, from crime maps to music maps, from rare map dealers to cartographic frauds.

When Baskerville was first created in 1757, there was concern that it would damage readers' eyes with its combination of thin and thick strokes and tapering serifs. Yet 250 years later, it remains one of the most commonly used typefaces in books of all kinds. As best-selling author Simon Garfield tells it, the tale of this elegant typeface is one of painstaking dedication. The font's creator, John Baskerville, was a maverick lacquer maker and master printer who made it his life's mission to achieve the font's perfection. His efforts culminated in his magnificent Bible, acclaimed as the finest ever made. Garfield explores why Baskerville's own body was dug up and buried many times before finally being allowed to rest in peace, and examines his legacy through the work of his wife, Sarah Baskerville-one of the first powerful women in the printing world-and the archivists and enthusiasts working to preserve the font's original steel punches today.

Albertus, first carved on a bronze tablet in the 1930s by German Jewish refugee Berthold Wolpe, has proved to be one of the most enduring handcrafted typefaces in the world. It is at once modern and timeless, authoritative and whimsical-renowned as the typeface of London Street signs, David Bowie albums, and Star Wars movie posters. In this unique celebration, best-selling author Simon Garfield charts the story of the creation of Albertus, its innumerable and vibrant uses, and the erratic brilliance of its designer, as recounted by Wolpe's children. Through his exploration of this singular font, Garfield grapples with one of the most fundamental artistic questions: what makes great art not only survive but flourish in each new age and medium?

Since its improvised creation at Microsoft in the mid-1990s, Comic Sans has become one of the most used and talked-about typefaces of the digital age. The subject of April Fools pranks and endless internet discourse, it has spawned a movement to ban it, inspired revivals and spinoffs, and continues to be widely promoted by educators. In this delightful history, best-selling author Simon Garfield tells the story of how Comic Sans emerged from speech bubbles on educational software to become one of the most recognized-and reviled-typefaces on earth. He considers how the computer transformed type into something that anyone could use and have an opinion on, explores how new fonts emerge with changing times and technology, and meets die-hard Comic Sans adherents and haters. He concludes the book by asking the unimaginable: Could Comic Sans now be the coolest typeface ever made?

More than a decade on from the publication of the Sunday Times bestselling JUST MY TYPE, Simon Garfield presents a new series of beautifully designed pocket biographies of iconic typefaces

More than a decade on from the publication of the Sunday Times bestselling JUST MY TYPE, Simon Garfield presents a new series of beautifully designed pocket biographies of iconic typefaces

More than a decade on from the publication of the Sunday Times bestselling JUST MY TYPE, Simon Garfield presents a new series of beautifully designed pocket biographies of iconic typefaces

The encyclopaedia once shaped our understanding of the world. Created by thousands of scholars and the most obsessive of editors, adults cleared their shelves in the belief that wisdom was now effortlessly accessible in their living rooms. Contributions from Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Orville Wright, Alfred Hitchcock, Marie Curie and Indira Gandhi helped millions of children with their homework. But now these huge books gather dust and sell for almost nothing on eBay, and we derive our information from the internet, apparently for free. What have we lost in this transition? And how did we tell the progress of our lives in the past? All the Knowledge in the World is a history and celebration of those who created the most ground-breaking and remarkable publishing phenomenon of any age. It tracks the story from Ancient Greece to Wikipedia, from modest single-volumes to the 11,000-volume Chinese manuscript that was too big to print. It looks at how Encyclopaedia Britannica came to dominate the industry and how an army of ingenious door-to-door salesmen sold their wares to guilt-ridden parents. It explains how encyclopaedias have reflected our changing attitudes towards sexuality, race and technology, and exposes how these ultimate bastions of trust were often riddled with errors and prejudice. With his characteristic ability to tackle the broadest of subjects in an illuminating and highly entertaining way, Simon Garfield uncovers a fascinating and important part of our past, and wonders whether the promise of complete knowledge - that most human of ambitions - will forever be beyond our grasp.

An assessment of a decade of AIDS in Britain, covering the disease's progress and people's reaction to it. The book draws on interviews with entertainment figures such as Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry, as well as social workers and government ministers.

A fascinating, informative and highly entertaining expedition through the highways and byways of dogdom. John Bradshaw, New York Times bestselling author of Dog SenseA charming meditation on the relationship between humans and dogs, drawing upon history, science, art, and personal experience to illuminate a magical bond that has endured millenniafrom theNew York Timesbestselling author ofJust My Type. Ludo is now an elderly gentleman, and we would do almost anything to ensure his continued happiness. We schedule our days around his needshis mealtimes, his walks, the delivery of his life-saving medication (he has epilepsy, poor love). We spend a bizarrely large amount of our disposable income on him, and he never sends a card of thanks. When hes not with us for a few days, the house feels extraordinarily empty. I feel so fortunate to know him.Ludo is a dogSimon Garfields beloved black Labrador retriever, one of millions of canines who have become integral parts of our lives. But how did the dog become top dog? How did these faithful animals come to assist us not only in hunting, but in bomb disposal and cancer detectionand ultimately become our closest companions?Dogs Best Friendexamines how this bond developed over the centuries, and how it has transformed countless lives, both human and canine.Garfield begins with the earliest visual representationsdogs depicted in ancient rock artand ends at the laboratory that first sequenced the canine genome. Along the way, we meet the legendary Corgis of Buckingham Palace, the dogs of the Soviet space program, the worlds first labradoodle, and a border collie that can identify more than a thousand different plush toys. Garfield reveals the secrets of the worlds best dog trainers, takes us inside the wild world of dog breeding and dog shows, and unearths the deep psychological roots of the human-dog link. And Ludo pops his snout in from time to time as well. A celebration of this deep interspecies connection, delivered with Simon Garfields inimitable wit,Dogs Best Friendoffers delights and insights for anyone who has ever loved a dog.

A wise, witty, alternative history of humanity, DOG'S BEST FRIEND reflects on how our relationship with dogs has changed over the centuries, and explores the universal desire for non-human companionship

A delightful and illuminating exploration of the human instinct to make things small, from the bestselling author of Just My Type and On the Map

The strange and wonderful story of how one colour changed the world, from the bestselling author of Just My Type and On the Map

The paperback outing of this engaging and enlightening history of letter-writing and our relationship with the mail, from the bestselling author of Just My Type and On the Map

When he was very young, Simon Garfield lusted after rare stamps but could not afford them. But it is also a story of wooden legs, pornography in the Finchley Road, Pele's World Cup shirt, the man who guards stamps for the Queen, and a woman who is terrified of the Post Office Tower.

Describes how Helvetica and Comic Sans took over the world; why Barack Obama opted for Gotham, while Amy Winehouse found her soul in 30s Art Deco; the pivotal moment when fonts left the world of Letraset and were loaded onto computers; and more.

In 1959, the first Mini was produced on an assembly line at Cowley, near Oxford. Designed for austerity and efficiency, the car came to represent individuality and classlessness. Today, the car is still produced at Cowley - it is now owned by BMW and called the MINI.

This is a book about Kendo Nagasaki, Mick McManus, Les Kellett, Klondyke Kate and Dr Death - men and women who used to fight each other every night for pride and money.Margaret Thatcher once wrote adoringly to Big Daddy, and Frank Sinatra told Giant Haystacks that British wrestlers were the best entertainers in the world. The Duke of Edinburgh attended the live shows, expressing a preference for Johnny Kwango, who specialized in head-butts. Millions would watch this curious pursuit on television every Saturday afternoon. Many said it was a fake, yet many more didn't seem to mind.But then Big Daddy had a stroke, the commentator started making sexploitation films and a plumber from Wolverhampton made an unexpected housecall on Kendo Nagasaki. They took it off the television shortly after wrestlers started dying during the bouts. These days, those who are left like to talk.'Brilliant. Read The Wrestling. If you don't enjoy it I'll pull Giant Haystack's beard.' Independent'Masterful, funny . . . Packed with English eccentricity by the bucket-load, Garfield has fashioned a brilliant, barmy book from the most unpromising raw material.' FHM

In 1936 anthropologist Tom Harrison, poet and journalist Charles Madge and documentary filmmaker Humphrey Jennings set up the Mass Observation Project. The idea was simple: ordinary people would record, in diary form, the events of their everyday lives. An estimated one million pages eventually found their way to the archive - and it soon became clear this was more than anyone could digest. Today, the diaries are stored at the University of Sussex, where remarkably most remain unread. In Our Hidden Lives, Simon Garfield has skilfully woven a tapestry of diary entries in the rarely discussed but pivotal period of 1945 to 1948. The result is a moving, intriguing, funny, at times heartbreaking book -unashamedly populist in the spirit of Forgotten Voices or indeed Margaret Forster's Diary of an Ordinary Woman.'I love these diaries. They have the attraction of being stories, but REAL stories- Better than any novel.' Margaret Forster 'A lovely book. It will appeal to- anyone who appreciates the richness and diversity of human experience.' Tony Benn'Utterly engrossing, better than any kind of reality TV.' Gavin Esler'Funny, vivid, touching, angry, thoughtful - every page is a delight. This is definitely no. 1 on my present list to give to everyone in the coming year.' Jenny Uglow, author of The Lunar Men

Of all the accounts written about the Second World War, none are more compelling than the personal diaries of those who lived through it.