Leftfield charts

Notes: A 470-page hardcover book featuring highly detailed photos and comprehensive research on 222 portable vinyl record players.

Once considered little more than a children's plaything or a grade school accessory, the portable record player has gained newfound respect in recent years. Whatever they may lack in high-end audio fidelity, battery-powered turntables more than make up for it with their convenience and ease of use. Just ask any crate digger: a cult favourite portable like the Columbia GP-3 or the Audio-Technica Sound Burger (or even the Fisher-Price Big Bird model) can be an absolutely essential companion on an all-day vinyl hunt.

Portables features lavish, detailed photos of 222 portable turntables from around the world, including rare record players from Japan, the UK, Germany and the Soviet Union as well as the USA, and ranging in vintage from the 1920s to the early twenty-first century. They're all gorgeously captured here by photographer Eilon Paz, with accompanying commentary from music historian Dan Epstein.

Whether you're a hardcore turntable collector, an aficionado of cool vintage audio gear, a student of industrial design, or a vinyl lover curious about the wild world of portable record players, Portables will make your head spin-and will soon have you scouring thrift stores, antique malls, and even your grandma's attic for the portable record player of your dreams.