He is the father of four daughters-Kirby Bosley, Katherine Davis, Emily Davis and Sarah Davis. His brother Stephen is a retired banking lawyer who now teaches law. His uncle was Marc Blitzstein, the American composer. His mother, Josephine Blitzstein Davis, was a social activist. His father was the Philadelphia labor lawyer Edward Davis. He was educated at public schools at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Institute at the Art Students League in New York at the Barnes Art Foundation in Philadelphia at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and at the University of Pennsylvania (junior year Phi Beta Kappa, BA degree). Not all the books on this profile belong to the author with this biography.Ĭhristopher Davis was born in Philadelphia, PA, in 1928 and raised there. There is more than one author in the database with this name. In the rapidly changing publishing climate of today, this book is also a nostalgic reminder of a time when creativity could flourish unburdened by the shackles of corporate bureaucracy.

The narrative he provides is a dual one, encompassing the visionary genius of Peter Kindersley and the publishing revolution he fomented, and charting the remarkable, sometimes precarious, frequently hilarious, roller-coaster ride as the company grew from a handful of people in a studio in South London to a substantial global business. He joined the company at its foundation and in due course became Group Publisher. Then a series of catastrophic printing decisions brought the company to its knees, and ultimately into the arms of Pearson.Ĭhristopher Davis is uniquely positioned to tell the story of DK's rise and fall. Across the range of illustrated household reference titles, from children's books to travel guides, its distinctive look of colourful images cut out against a white background could be seen on bookshelves throughout the country - and indeed the publishing world.Īpart from three minor acquisitions, DK had grown organically over 25 years to be a publicly listed company with a turnover of £200 million, some 1500 employees, publishing arms across the English language markets, a 50-strong international sales force that dealt with more than 400 publishers, a direct selling business with 30,000 independent distributors, and had expanded its skills for delivering handsomely designed reference books into the new media of videos, CD-ROMs and online educational content.

By the close of the last millennium Dorling Kindersley had become one of the most recognisable brands in publishing.

Eyewitness by Christopher Davis