Why are Japanese manga now sweeping the globe and how did they develop? In this unique survey, art historian Andreas Marks presents a fascinating account of the development of Japanese illustrated books in premodern times. Beginning in the 17th century, Japanese publishers were producing thousands of popular illustrated titles on topics ranging from religion and poetry to celebrated beauties, famous kabuki actors, farting warriors and adventure tales. This was the start of the revolution in book production that has produced today's Japanese manga and comics! Marks describes the evolution of Japanese illustrated books though 5 key examples, including: Kitagawa Utamaro's Picture Book of Crawling Creatures (1788) -- a celebrated picture book with exquisitely-drawn plants and creatures alongside poetry Hokusai's Sketchbooks , published in the early 1800s, containing hundreds of innovative drawing and design ideas from the great artist Katsushika Hokusai--ideas that inspired many famous European artists! The New Illustrated Water Margin , an adaptation of a Chinese novel about a band of fictional heroes with superpowers, illustrated by Hokusai--who created an exotic new vision of the world for this tale! The Tale of Shiranui , an adventure novel in serialized form published over sixty years starting in 1849 The landmark early-20th century Current Affairs Manga which was the first periodical to use the word "manga" in its title and provided illustrated commentaries on contemporary political affairs Japan's Illustrated Book Revolution is the first comprehensive overview of the unique illustrated storytelling forms that developed in Japan--considered by many to be Japan's major contribution to world culture.