Books about magazines

• Books: listed alphabetically by author surname
• Resources: magazines, libraries, etc
• Book publishers
• Links to websites on magazines and journalism (separate page)
• Search for books about magazines on Amazon: magazine_books

Books

• Abrahamson, David and Prior-Miller, MR
  The Routledge Handbook of Magazine Research: The Future of the Magazine Form , Routledge, 2015
  Routledge has been a prime mover in developing the field of magazine scholarship, as this book demonstrates. It sets out the field of magazine research and suggests avenues of investigation. Each of 33 chapters surveys the past 20 years of scholarship in its subject area, identifying research themes, theoretical developments and interpretive breakthroughs
  

• Angeletti, N, and Oliva, A,
  Magazines That Make History: Their Origins, Development, and Influence , University Press of Florida, 2004.
  Two Argentinian journalists discuss eight magazines they consider to be among the most successful in the west: Time, Der Spiegel, Life, Paris Match, National Geographic, Reader's Digest, Hola! and People
  

• Blackwell, L
  The End of Print: The Grafik Design of David Carson: Graphic Design of David Carson
  Laurence King, 2000.
  Views on Carson are divided but Beach Culture, Raygun and Blah, Blah were influential designs
  
  

• Breward, C and Wilcox, C (eds)
  The Ambassador Magazine: Promoting Post-War British Textiles and Fashion , V&A Publishing, 2015.
  The Ambassador has been described as 'probably the most daring and enterprising trade magazine ever conceived'. With the motto 'Export or Die!', the magazine was renowned for its innovative design and adventurous editorial approach in promoting British manufacturing in the post-war period
  

• Caldwell, C and Zappaterra, Y
  Editorial Design: Digital and Print
  Laurence King, 2014 (2nd edition)
  Practical work covering current and emerging digital formats, branding, how to create layouts, handling copy and images, design, and production skills and trends. With advice and opinions from contemporary designers
  

• The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain: The 20th Century and Beyond
  Cambridge University Press, 2019
  This, the 7th volume in a series that goes back to the very founding of the concept of the book, is the first volume with a specific chapter on magazines, by Magforum founder Tony Quinn
  
  

• Conboy, M and Steel, J
  The Routledge Companion to British Media History , Routledge, 2014
  With 50 chapters by international scholars, the book is divided into parts covering first of all media history debates, and media and society, before exploring approaches to 'historicising media futures' for: newspapers, magazines, radio, film, television and digital media
  

• Cox, H and Mowatt, S
  Revolutions from Grub Street: A History of Magazine Publishing in Britain
  Oxford University Press, 2014, 288 pages, £19.99, paperback
  An academic business history of the magazine industry from the 1700s (the days of Grub Street) to the present day. See review
  
• Crewe, Quentin
  The frontiers of privilege: A century of social conflict as reflected in 'The Queen'
  Stevens Press, 1961
  Social history seen through articles from the society and court weekly magazine that never even mentioned the General Strike. Foreword by Jocelyn Stevens, editor-in-chief, The Queen
  

• Crowley, D,
  Magazine Covers
  Mitchell Beazley, 2003
  Chapters cover genres such as fashion, culture and photojournalism, featuring 20th-century UK and US magazines, such as Picture Post, The New Yorker, Nova and The Face.
  

• Dancyger, I
  A World of Women: An illustrated history of women's magazines 1700-1970
  Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1978
  Dancyger was a freelance journalist for magazines such as Woman and Woman's Own. She paints a picture of 'widening, exciting and challenging women's magazine content' in a detailed work, complete with profiles of 15 women writers and editors
  

• Davis, A,
  Magazine Journalism Today
  Focal, 1988

• Alexis Easley, Andrew King, John Morton
  Researching the Nineteenth-Century Periodical Press: Case Studies, Routledge, 232 pages, £115
  

• Foges, C (ed)
  Magazine Design (Pro-graphics) Pro Graphics, 1999
  Based on interviews with David Hillman, Simon Esterson, Fenrando Gutierrez, Mark Porter, Stephen Gan, Vince Frost and Roger Black, the book explores how designers use elements such as navigational devices, photography, illustration and typography to make a magazine understandable and attractive
  

• Glover, S (ed),
  The Penguin Book of Journalism: Secrets of the Press , Penguin, 1999.
  Glover was one of the founders of the Independent newspaper and editor of the Independent on Sunday. Chapters written by some of best names in journalism
  

• Gough-Yates, A
  Understanding Women's Magazines
  Routledge, 2002.
  Academic analysis of women's market; focus on 1988-2000
  

• Hack, Jefferson Hack, Rankin and Jo-Ann Furniss
  Dazed and Confused: Making it Up as We Go Along
  Rizzoli, 2012.
  How Dazed & Confused magazine became a name on the world publishing stage
  

• Dian Hanson
  History of Girly Magazines: Pin-ups from the 19th Century to the 1960s
  Taschen (November 2006)
  

• Chris Harte
  The Captain Magazine: A History, Index and Bibliograph. Sports History Publishing (2021)
  Everything you ever wanted to know about this famous boys' monthly, which lasted 25 years from 1899. Complete with hundreds of images in its 394 pages
  

• Holmes, Tim
  Mapping the Magazine (Journalism Studies)
  Routledge, 2009
  Collection of original, scholarly, detailed and wide-ranging examinations of the magazine form. Drawing on a variety of theoretical approaches and a wealth of titles from around the world, the contributions explore the significance of the magazine to journalism and culture.
  

• Jackson, P, Stevenson, N, and Brooks, K
  Making Sense of Men's Magazines
  Polity Press, 2001
  

• James, Wendy
  A Life in Magazines
  Editors Ink, 2021
  Highly-readable memoir of a journalist's career in magazines, starting at IPC when she arrived in Britain from Australia in 1966. Wendy James covers women's weeklies such as Women's Own, and part works, with details of working practices and the people and companies who made up the industry.
  

• Johnson, S, and Prijatel, P
  The Magazine from Cover to Cover
  McGraw-Hill, 1999
  

• Andrew King, Alexis Easley, John Morton
  Routledge Handbook to Nineteenth-Century British Periodicals and Newspapers, Routledge, 2016
  

• Jeremy Leslie
  MagCulture: New Magazine Design
  Laurence King, 2003
  Jeremy Leslie runs the Magculture consultancy and blog. His books and blog are essential reading for anyone interested in magazine design, particularly for independent magazines. He is a former group creative director at customer magazine publisher John Brown Citrus. He won Designer of the Year in Business & Professional Magazines in the 2004 PPA awards and Designer of the Year in the 2005 APA awards for M-Real.
  
  
• Jeremy Leslie
  The Modern Magazine: Visual Journalism in the Digital Age
  Laurence King, 2013
  Jeremy Leslie runs the Magculture consultancy and blog. His books and blog are essential reading for anyone interested in magazine design, particularly for independent magazines. He is a former group creative director at customer magazine publisher John Brown Citrus. He won Designer of the Year in Business & Professional Magazines in the 2004 PPA awards and Designer of the Year in the 2005 APA awards for M-Real.
  

• Jenny McKay
  The Magazines Handbook: Third Edition (Media Practice)
  Routledge, 2000
  Comprehensive introduction to the magazine industry, covering its development and the roles and skills needed by journalists on magazines, from commissioning to writing to subbing and legal issues
  

• McLean, Ruari
  Magazine Design
  OUP, 1969
  The first book on magazine design, by one of Britain's leading typographers (Penguin books, The Eagle, New Scientist, Motif)
  

• John Morrish
  Magazine Editing: In Print and Online: How to Develop and Manage a Successful Publication
  Routledge 2003 2nd edn
  Focuses on the journalistic and managerial skills and knowledge needed by editors
  

• Andrew Nash, Claire Squires, I. R. Willison (editors)
  The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain: The 20th Century and Beyond
  Cambridge University Press, 2019
  This is the 7th volume in a series that goes back to the very founding of the concept of the book. It is the first volume with a specific chapter on magazines, by Magforum founder Tony Quinn
  
  

• William Owen
  Magazine Design
  Brown, 1991
  In three parts, Owen gives a historical perspective, with much of the focus on the US, contemporary editorial design and 'new magazine design' as DTP was becoming the prime production method for magazines.
  

• Mike Perry
  Over & Over: A catalogue of hand-drawn patterns
  Princeton Architectural Press, 2008
  This book is difficult to put down. Perry has scoured the world to track down the work of 50-odd illustrators whose minutely-detailed, wallpaperish graphics have adorned the likes of Dazed & Confused and the New York Times Magazine. I – and several other people – have spent hours poring over my copy. No-one with an interest in the visual will be disappointed

• Reginald Pound
  Mirror Of The Century: The Strand Magazine 1891-1950
  (Internet Archive copy)
  South Brunswick (1966, New York)
  History of the mould-breaking Newnes monthly by one of its editors.

• Anthony Quinn
  A History of British Magazine Design
  V&A Publishing, 2016. ISBN: 978-1851777860
  This book has been a labour of love for me – and seven years in the making. It covers the period from 1842 – the year Punch and Illustrated London News appeared – to the present day. British Magazine Design is highly illustrated with 400 photographs of magazine covers and pages. Even if I say so myself, it is beautifully produced. Some pages can be seen in the V&A shop listing
  
  
  
• Frances Quinn
  Law for Journalists
  Longman 2007
  Lots of examples of legal issues that arise in reporting – on magazines, newspapers and online – make this an accessible book. Also sections on testing your knowledge with each chapter
  

• David Reed
  Popular Magazine in Britain and the United States of America 1880-1960
  British Library, 1997.
  Very good academic study; full of detail and highly referenced
  

• Tim Southwell
  Getting Away with it: Inside Story of "Loaded"
  Ebury, 1998.
  View of the early Loaded years by its then deputy editor. He later set up Golf Punk publisher KYN
  
  

• David E. Sumner
  The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900 (Mediating American History)
  Peter Lang, New York, 2010
  Academic sets out why US magazines have been so successful and why they can still be so. Care needs to be taken in applying some of the arguments to the UK.
  

• Steve Taylor & Neville Brody
  100 Years of Magazine Covers
  Black Dog Publishing, 2006
  Highly illustrated book divided into themed chapters, on fashion and women's magazines, photo-journalism, music magazines and underground publications. Individual covers are discussed as well as the importance of titles and publishing houses.
  

• Thatcher, M, and Quinn, A
  Kitchener Wants You: The Man, the Poster and the Legacy
  Uniform, 2016
  Kitchener Wants You traces the way Alfred Leete's 1914 cover for London Opinion was adopted as the famous WWI recruiting poster and went on the become a global icon repeated every day all over the world. Illustrated with dozens of magazine covers and pages
  

• John Wharton
  Managing Magazine Publishing
  Blueprint, 1992
  Out of print but very good on the publishing side. More trade-based than consumer magazines
  

Resources

• British Library has excellent sections on the history of newspapers, comics, and music and film magazines
• National Art Library catalogue at the V&A Museum. Particularly good on design and fashion
• St Bride's Printing Library traces the roots of printing and publishing back 500 years (William Caxton's apprentice Wynkyn de Worde was buried in St Bride's Church)
• Campaign / Media Week trade paper has searchable archive
• Press Gazette weekly trade paper for journalists. Searchable archive

Book publishers

• Routledge has become the leading publisher for academic works on journalism and media studies
• Laurence King design and typography