A team of experts in each of the ten major Pulp genres, from action Pulps to spicy Pulps and more, chart for the first time the complete history of Pulp magazines-the stories and their writers, the graphics and their artists, and, of course, the publishers, their market, and readers. Each chapter in the book, which is illustrated with more than 400 examples of the best Pulp graphics (many from the Editors' collections-among the world's largest) is organized in a clear and accessible way, starting with an introductory overview of the genre, followed by a selection of the best covers and interior graphics, organized chronologically through the chapter. All images are fully captioned (many are in essence "nutshell" histories in themselves). Two special features in each chapter focus on topics of particular interest (such as extended profiles of Daisy Bacon, Pulp author and editor of Love Story, the hugely successful romance Pulp, and of Harry Steeger, co-founder of Popular Publications in 1930 and originator of the "Shudder Pulp" genre). With an overall Introduction on "The Birth of the Pulps" by Doug Ellis, and with two additional chapters focusing on the great Pulp writers and the great Pulp artists, The Art of the Pulps covers every aspect of this fascinating genre; it is the first definitive visual history of the Pulps.

Big-city residents on both sides of the law regard him with equal measures of fear and reticence. They know that whatever they're doing, right or wrong, will sooner or later come to the attention of Guy "Keyhole" Kerry, a wise-cracking, hard-charging journalist who knows all and tells most of it. Kerry's profession brings him into contact with all kinds of people, and the law of averages guarantees that some of them are better left alone. But Keyhole Kerry will risk anything for a scoop, even if it means becoming embroiled in murder mysteries and making himself a target. This relatively brief series (eight late Thirties entries) was written for Dime Detective by Frederick C. Davis, a tireless pulp scribe who sold more yarns to the magazine-73 in all-than any other contributor save T.T. Flynn. With a half-dozen recurring characters in this one rough-paper periodical, Davis was one of the many talented contributors who made Dime Detective a prestigious crime pulp second only to the legendary Black Mask in its impact on the genre.

New York-based private investigator Cass Blue is a morally flexible tough guy who backs up his hard-boiled rhetoric with frequent applications of the blackjack he carries in a hip pocket. No case is too seedy or sordid for him to take, and he's capable of taking as much as he dishes out when it's necessary. The cops don't trust him much more than they do the criminals, but that doesn't keep him from giving clients full value for their retainers. With the dubious assistance of speakeasy owner Al Lascoine, Cass sasses and slugs his way through a succession of Depression-era adventures. The Cass Blue yarns are related in the first person by stylish pulp writer John Lawrence, who guides his protagonist through a maze of conventional plots and countless gunfights. What the series lacks in polish and innovation, it makes up for with vigorous action and the tough-as-nails attitude that gave Dime Detective the distinctive flavor that made it the most important crime pulp excepting the legendary Black Mask.