Simon Garfield

His early work focused on the music industry, but his books have increasingly delved into niche topics, from British wrestling and the invention of mauve to the history of encyclopedias and typefaces.

Money for Nothing: Greed and Exploitation in the Music Industry (1986) was praised by Booklist's Peter L. Robinson as an "insider's account" which had "all the ingredients that produce a juicy public spectacle.

"[1] Expensive Habits: The Dark Side of the Music Industry (1986) was based on an article Garfield wrote for Time Out about George Michael's legal action against his record label.

[2] In his review for The Listener, Dave Rimmer described Garfield as "one of the few writers in Britain dealing regularly, intelligently and entertainingly with the business of music.

"[1] Garfield started writing books on more niche topics: including inside views on British wrestling in The Wrestling (1996) and BBC Radio 1 DJs in The Nation's Favourite: The True Adventures of Radio One (1998); and what The New York Times Book Review called a "straightforward and clear" chronicle of William Henry Perkin's life and legacy in Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World (2006).

[5] In a three-volume anthology — Our Hidden Lives (2004), We Are at War (2005) and Private Battles (2006) — Garfield edited diaries from the archives of Mass-Observation,[2] established in the 1930s to preserve the daily experiences of "ordinary people".

[2] To cope with a midlife crisis and the breakdown of his first marriage, Garfield wrote a memoir about his personal life and passion for stamp collecting.