This work investigates the critical role played by small, independent presses in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s in fostering the development of modernist literature. Hugh Ford, a scholar of literary history, utilizes archival research and personal accounts to document the activities of expatriate publishers. The text argues that these individuals provided the necessary infrastructure for writers like Ernest Hemingway and Henry Miller to reach an audience when mainstream publishers were unwilling to take risks on experimental prose.

Scholars and historians frequently cite this work as a foundational resource for understanding the mechanics of modernist publishing. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a thorough examination of the period's cultural output.