Richard Charkin has done a great job of discussing a broad picture of British and English language publishing and the changes that have taken place in the last 50 years in the industry everywhere. This industry, like most others, has responded to changes in readers tastes, to market conditions, to social changes, economic fluctuations, and particularly to the technological innovations that have taken place at a tremendous pace in these last 50 years. I worked in the publishing industry and related fields for the last 30 years, and loved viewing my career in these contexts that he describes so well. Charkin has stuck to his theme of the business changes and his responses to them as a publisher, without turning this into simply a list of people, places, and his reminiscences of the good and bad times. A few sentences here and there provide enough reminiscence to set the scene for the bigger picture - the smoking in the office, the extravagant partying at times, and how these things also changed. Despite his subtitle, this book is a useful text for publishers at any stage in their careers to understand the business a little better, and how it is in a constant state of change and development.