Sincc the publication of the first volume in 2004 and a second in 2006, The Photobook: A History has become established as the leading authority on the evolution of the photobook for enthusiasts, academics and bibliophiles alike. The Photobook: A History, volume /// continues the authoritative survey by examining the changing face of the photobook in the decades of the Cold War, the new millennium and the internet. It features publications by many well-known photographers from Joel Meycrowitz, John Gossage and Kazuo Kitai to Walter Pfiefler, Susan Mciselas and Roger Ballen. But it also introduces many innovative books by unknown or overlooked pho¬ tographers who are helping to re-examine and redefine the photobook at a challenging yet exciting time for professional photography. Despite the much-trumpeted 'death of the book1, the influence of file- sharing and social network sites such as Youtube and Flickr and the rise of the 'citizen-reporter', who can make images with a smartphone and publish them online within moments, many photographers still see the photobook - a bound collection of work - as the most important vehicle for communi¬ cating their vision. Indeed, the same technological developments that seem to threaten the primacy of the printed photobook in many ways give pho¬ tographers greater control than ever over not only the reproduction of their images but also how they are bound and presented, from limited edition art books to boxed editions or print-on-demand works of multiple volumes. Martin Parr's celebrated photographs bridge the divide between art and documentary photography. His studies of the idiosyncrasies of mass culture and consumerism around the world, his innovative imagery and his prolific- output have placed him firmly at the (orefront of contemporary art. Parr is a member of the international photo agency Magnum Photos, and has recently extended his interest to film-making. He is an avid collector and maker of photobooks. His own photobooks include 'I he Last Resort (ic)HG), Common .SV7/W1999), Poring Postamis (Phaidon Press, 1999), Luxury (2008) and Life a a Hatch (2012). 'The extensive monograph on his work, Alartin Parr by Val Williams, is published by Phaidon Press. Gerry Badger is a critic, architect, curator and photographer. His pub¬ lished books include Collecting Photography (2003) and John Gossage: Berlin in the 'lime of the Wall (2005), as well as Phaidon's 55s on Chris Killip (2001) and Kugenc Atgct (2001). In 2007, he published The (renins ofPhotography, the book of the BBC Television series of the same name, and The Pleasures of Good Photographs (2010), an anthology of his essays on photography, which was awarded the 2011 Infinity Writers' Award from the International Center of Photography, New York..