Sinclair ZX Spectrum: a visual compendium

Invented by Sir Clive Sinclair, the successor to the ZX80 and ZX81 home computers would come to define an age of video gaming, with a range of games as quirky and eccentric as the computer that inspired them.

Re-live the glory days of the Spectrum with this collection of over 100 classic games. Starting with early titles such as The Hobbit, Hungry Horace and Psion’s Flight Simulation, we trace the lineage of the Spectrum through iconic titles including Manic Miner, Harrier Attack, Elite, Jetpac, Deus Ex Machina, The Lords of Midnight, Knight Lore and Head Over Heels. 

Each game is represented by a selected screenshot or loading page, printed full-bleed on high-quality paper and, for the first time in a Visual Compendium, using special fluorescent inks to capture the vibrant look of ZX Spectrum palette.

Accompanying the iconic imagery is a wealth of anecdotes and reminiscences from the artists and developers that made the games, with quotes from the Stamper Brothers, Dave Perry, Bo Jangeborg, the Oliver Twins, Matthew Smith, Dawn Drake, Andrew Hewson and many more. The book also features interviews with key artists and profiles of the major games publishers, plus a look at the Russian and Eastern Bloc clone market and homebrew scene, which still produces new ZX Spectrum games to this day!

At 303 pages long, Sinclair ZX Spectrum: a visual compendium comes in both softback and hardback editions, with a spot-varnished dust cover. So if you cut your gaming teeth on this quintessentially British computer, grab a copy of the visual compendium and take a glorious, garish, character-clashing step back in time.