The first paperbacks were published in 1841 by a company called Tauchnitz. But for the next ninety years, other publishers around the world continued to make hardback books, which, for many, were an expensive luxury. In 1934, first Albatross, then Penguin Books, began publishing paperbacks in Britain. Using Albatross's system of color-coding books according to subject matter, Penguin quickly became the biggest paperback publisher. Paperbacks were a great hit. Unlike hardbacks, they could be carried easily, and they were so cheap they could be thrown or given away. Paperbacks brought crime fiction, romance, as well as classic literature to millions of people. Despite a slightly "downmarket" image, in the twenty-first century, paperbacks are by far the most popular kind of book.

In the United States, Robert de Graff (1895–1981) founded Pocket Books in 1939. With their distinctive kangaroo logo (kangaroos have pockets), Pocket Books aimed to copy the success of...