154: Studies in International Communism
September 9, 2013
I was in San Francisco in the Spring of 2012 for the Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair, and since I had a little extra time I made the rounds of the…
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Judging Books by Their Covers
Judging Books by Their Covers is Josh MacPhee's ongoing series of writings and image collections of book covers. Although sometimes they feel marginal today, books have been a primary form of information and cultural exchange for almost 400 years. Book covers are often a person's first contact with the ideas inside, and in the hustle and bustle of contemporary life, cover designs are even more likely to shape the opinions of those that pick them up since many of us are too busy to ever read the entirety of the books. Judging Books by Their Covers largely focuses on—but is not exclusive to—the book covers and design coming out of the Left.
Josh is always looking for more book covers to feature. If you've got some gems he missed, or have ideas, drop him an email at josh (at) justseeds.org 
153: Seed
September 2, 2013
152: On The Poverty of Student Life
August 26, 2013
While rooting around Interference Archive looking for student movement books over the past couple weeks, I pulled out a whole set of different editions of what might be the most…
151: Students on the Move, Part II
August 19, 2013
Last week I looked at the phenomena of 1960s and 70s mass-market paperback publishers trying to cash in on interest in the giant student movement in the United States at…
150: Students on the Move, Part I
August 12, 2013
The last handful of years have seen an explosion in student organizing, here in the States, but also across the world, with hot spots in the UK, Austria, Sudan, and…
149: Arabic Spines
July 22, 2013
While in Palestine I visited over a dozen libraries and archives, and got to take a look at an entire world of books that was previously unknown to me. One…
148: Penguin Early African Fiction
July 8, 2013
When I was tracking down all the books in the Penguin African Library (see HERE), I came across an old novel based in South Africa that Penguin published, W.H. Canaway’s…
147: Dover Science, Part I
July 1, 2013
As I’ve mentioned before, I sometimes work at my friends’ bookshop here in Brooklyn called Book Thug Nation. It’s a great place, and there are many, many nuggets of book…
146: Fontana Africa, Part III
June 24, 2013
Here’s the third and final week of covers from the Fontana African Fiction series. I’ve given a bunch of back story and context for these covers in the previous two…
145: Fontana Africa, Part II
June 17, 2013
This week is a continuation of the covers from the Fontana African Fiction series. You can look at last weeks post and introduction to the books and their design HERE….
144: Fontana Africa, part 1
June 10, 2013
While hunting for books in the Heinemann African Writers Series (by far the most expansive collection of writing from Africa in English, and interestingly designed covers to boot!) I began…
143: The Charred Witness
June 3, 2013
So in order to keep abreast of my book hoarding, I work one day a week at one of the best bookstores in New York City, Book Thug Nation. Recently…
142: Seven Seas Books, Part V
May 27, 2013
So I found a couple last Seven Seas books, including two of the Africa-related ones I had been looking for. This will be the final installment of the Seven Seas…
141: Seven Seas Books, Part IV
May 20, 2013
For this fourth look into the book covers of Seven Seas, I’m going to just run through the rest of the titles I’ve been able to find. (To see the…
140: Seven Seas Books, Part III
May 13, 2013
For this third entry into the books put out by East German publisher Seven Seas in the 1960s and 70s, I want to look in-depth at a single title. By…
139: Seven Seas Books, Part II
May 6, 2013
Seven Seas also published a number titles related to Africa, in particular novels and short stories by South African writers. I’ve been able to find four of these titles, but…
138: Seven Seas Books, Part I
April 29, 2013
I was over my friend Aaron’s house nine months ago or so, and stumbled upon a book on his shelf published by Seven Seas Books. The spine was clean and…
137: The Not So Distant Future
March 4, 2013
Are you worried about global warming? Don’t fret, because in twelve short years you’ll have much bigger problems to deal with: The scum of the earth will have taken over…
136: Collier’s Af/Am Library, Part III
February 18, 2013
This week is the third and final installment of covers from Collier’s African/American Library series. What we’ve got left are the books by African-Americans, and unlike the African novels, most…
135: Collier’s Af/Am Library, Part II
February 11, 2013
I love mass market paperbacks. They are small, fit in your pocket, and were usually printed cheaply and in such volume that they hold little monetary value these days. Most…