This volume - investigating the work of a particular photographer, in this case, Chris Killip - comprises a 4000-word essay by an expert in the field, 55 photographs presented chronologically, each with a commentary, and a biography of the featured photographer.
I bought this book in the late 80s/early 90s, so this edition (the only one I could find on GR) seems wrong. Anyway if it's the same book it is a series of photos set in England's North East during the Thatcherite crisis of shut mines and unemployment showing the hopelessness of the young and old in those communities worst effected. I remember seeing a discussion on TV about this book and one commentator accused Killip of setting up the shots, and general mendacity. They're definitely making a political point, but they still portray an accurate truth, I think - my family on my mother's side are from Jarrow, near the communities portrayed. Maybe I'm just gullible.