Published by the National Library of Australia. The years 1939 to 1959 constituted the "golden era" of Australian pulp fiction - the ultimate escape. Tariffs kept the local "industry" cheap and viable and offered careers to authors such as Carter Brown, still Australia's most successful commercial author with an estimated 80 to 100 millions copies sold. Yet Australian pulp fiction is now virtually unknown and without serious analysis in this country. In this seminal work, the third in the National Library's popular Collectors Book series, Dr Toni Johnson-Woods reveals the history, the authors, the genres, the copyright issues and the lurid covers of this popular art form. Who hasn't read a "penny dreadful" with secret enjoyment at some time in their lives?