The Grain Kings by Keith Roberts (Hutchinson & Co.)
Karolys Italique in use on the dust jacket of the first edition of The Grain Kings. This collection of seven stories by English science fiction author Keith Roberts was published by Hutchinson & Co. in 1976. The art by Chris Foss depicts a giant harvester in dazzle camouflage. The typography is uncredited.
From Joachim Boaz’s review:
The Grain Kings (1976) gathers seven solid to brilliant short fictions in both alternate history and far future settings. Roberts adeptly melds the personal drama with the larger tapestry of the macropolitical (a militant Catholic Church, Cold War tensions in the wheat fields of Alaska, a fascist England, a distant world exploited for resources). This collection is highly recommended for fans of the more literary 1960s and 1970s British SF visions.
1 Comment on “The Grain Kings by Keith Roberts (Hutchinson & Co.)”
My dad’s a fan of Roberts’ work and I’ve seen a lot of his books growing up. His copy is the paperback edition which switches to a rounded sans-serif I don’t recognise. I think it does a good job of looking somehow dystopian and ominous without being over-literal.