The digital age took what was essentially an antiquarian hobby-the study and identification of typefaces and fonts-and turned it into a flourishing present-day avocation.

What font do you select when typing at your keyboard? And which do you prefer for your e-reading? Baskerville? Verdana?

How much do you know of the magical history behind your choices?

Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type.

He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective.

Just My Type also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House.