Are Dian Hanson's History of Mens Magazine books good?

[DYasha]

They are quite expensive and I'm not really sure what the content for the books are. Are they mostly covers or mostly pictures from inside the magazines (or half and half)? I have kind of a love/hate relationship with books that Dian Hanson puts out. The reviews are mixed (what little reviews I could find). I'm mostly interested in the 60s and 70s books. Anyone have any of them and could shed light on them?

[Soil]

Yes, these books are not cheap (50 Euro) and it's really hard to find some informations to these books, for example table of contents.

I bought the parts 4, 5 and 6 and it's

It's hard to say wheter these books are worth recommending for all or not.
That depends on what you expect from the books.

The books have ca. 450 pages. I would say, there are 3/4 pictures and 1/4 text.

It should be noted that the text is aviable three times: enlish language, german language, french language.

The texts are good, in my opinion, but these are the first books to this content I bought.

In the individual volumes Dian tells the story of the history of the magazines.
There are articles to the general history of mens magazines in the period under consideration with reference to the time at that time. And there are articles to the history of concrete magazines, on certain topics and publishers.

To the pictures: The pictures are mostly cover pictures, but not only.
The size of the pictures are mostly one picture on one book side or four pictures on one book site. The picture quality is good.

Personal conclusion:
I think, if you know little or nothing about the history of mens magazines or the history of such magazines in different countries, the books are good.
The articles ar well written and informative. I think the books give a good overview to the history of mens magazines and their protagonists.


Following the table of contents of Volume 5 for example:

- Intruduction: Welcome to pornotopia
- American newsstand: Hippies, Disco and Dildos
- AL Goldstein: Masturbator's Everyman
- The decline of sex and humor magazines
- Britains kick off their knickers
- Parris resurgent
- Larry Flynt: Hustler
- The big bust boom
- Breasts up, buttoms down
- Japan: New star on the rise
- Hong Kong: The other Japan
- Swingers and Swing magazines
- Real-sex pioneer Peter Wolff
- The rise and fall of reader written erotica
- The 1970s Latin Amereican situation
- Italy's sexual revolution
- German softcore in the 1970's
- Top American cover girls 1968 to 1980
- Ads of the 1970's: The spurious decade

[DYasha]

Thanks for the info. Honestly, I'd just be more interested in the pinup photos inside the magazines rather than the covers. Maybe if it was on sale I might consider buying one (60s or 70s volumes).

[grafften]

I just got 5th and 6th part directly from Taschen without reading review here - which is a pretty good summary. A tip - if you ARE going to buy these, then at least in EU you get free shipping for any purchase above 100 euros. And they arrived real fast too.

I'd say if you're not an expert, you should definately get these. I consider getting 3rd and 4th parts as well. What I would REALLY love to see are similar histories on 1980s and 1990s. But as I've been growing much more interested in sexual revolution, these books help to shed some light on how men's magazines fared back then. Safe to say I did not know half of the magazines issued back then and even if these books show mostly covers, it's still hell of a interesting to see.

[grafften]

Hear hear! I just noticed there's a new upcoming book from Dian Hanson "The Bigger Book of Breasts".
From official webpage of Taschen:

The Big Book of Breasts was an immediate best seller when it debuted in 2006. Its 396 pages introduced readers to the top naturally bountiful nude models of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, amazingly mammiferous beauties including Joan Brinkman, Virginia Bell, Roberta Pedon, Mary Waters, Margaret Middleton, Keli Stewart and many more. The one and only complaint was that there was no biographical information on these curvaceous cuties, no lists of their magazines and films to give readers a more intimate connection.

We listened, and The Bigger Book of Breasts answers! Not only are there more pages with all new photos of your favorite big breast models of the ’50s through ’70s, there are also personal profiles for each and every one. Which model married comedian Richard Pryor? Who inspired Russ Meyer’s first film? Where are those free Mary Waters loops? And yes, Roberta Pedon is alive and well!