Retro: A Guide to the Mid-20th Century Design Revival

An ideal catalogue for your midcentury modern city loft or your retro bachelor pad, this abundantly illustrated book explores our love affair with objects and designs produced in the postwar period of the 1950s to the 1980s. Sociologist Adrian Franklin—also the co-host and presenter of the Australian television show Collectors for six years—considers the unique qualities of this era of design in furniture, fashion, ceramics, technology, graphics, and metal, plastic, and glass ware. Hundreds of examples are shown in color photos, captioned with sources and dates, and the book identifies the designers, manufacturers, brands, innovations, technologies and materials that transformed the design world.
"Mid Century Modern, or Retro, has eclipsed in popular terms the two other great styles of the 20th century, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Yet, the supporting literature is still largely collector and value based. Retro, now a way of life, really needs a sensible, accessible, stimulating and wide-ranging handbook, a pro