There is a thriving, if little-known, community of individuals in modern society who believe that they are taking part in a communications revolution. It is not driven by phone lines or cables and does not rely on large corporations or expensive equipment. Instead, it is created on personal computers (see entry under 1970s—The Way We Lived in volume 4) or by hand, photocopied and stapled and sold or traded on the Internet (see entry under 1990s—The Way We Lived in volume 5) or through alternative bookstores. This communications phenomenon is the "zine" (pronounced ZEEN), a small, handmade publication, on any subject its creator chooses to explore.

Though modern zines began to appear in the 1980s, zines have a long and distinguished history. Ever since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, people with opinions have found a way to get them into print and distribute...