Desert: Publications Books

To dismiss Desert Publications as merely a "bomb factory" is to miss the intellectual diversity of its catalog. While ordnance manuals made up a significant portion of their sales, the catalog spanned at least four distinct categories.

Let’s address the physical product first, because it matters. If you are used to the glossy, heavy-stock paper of a Barnes & Noble coffee table book, you will be initially shocked. A Desert Publications book feels like a relic from a photocopy shop in 1983. The covers are usually thin cardstock with bold, often garish, typefaces. The interior paper is newsprint-grade. Photographs, when included, are murky halftones. desert publications books