• John Sutherland argues that bestseller lists monitor one of the strongest pulses in modern literature and are therefore worthy of serious study.
• Asks what separates bestsellers from canonical fiction, why some critically-acclaimed novels never make it, and examines what bestsellers reveal about both literary culture and society.
• Lifts the lid on the 'bestseller industry', and examines what makes a book into a bestseller.
• Includes lively summaries of bestsellers over the years - including both classic and contemporary novels, alongside some surprising titles and long-forgotten names.
• Gone with the Wind, Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Blue Lagoon, Portnoy's Complaint and The Da Vinci Code - these are just some of the bestselling titles that Sutherland discusses.

Readership: Lovers of fiction. English literature students (and their lecturers), also cultural historians.

John Sutherland, Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature, University College, London

"His amiable trawl through the history of popular books is frequently entertaining" - Scott Pack, The Times

"breezily entertaining" - Kevin Power, Irish Times (Dublin)

"Sutherland effectively challenges the assumption that a book's commercial success somehow invalidates either its author's integrity or the critical acumen of its readers. Instead we are offered a plausible vision of the blockbuster or the bodice-ripper as narrative in its purest form." - Jonathan Keates, TLS