Sean Topham is a writer and journalist who wrote Hands that really grip, an award-winning documentary about the Action Man doll for Channel Four television.

This work explores the technological and philosophical history of inflatable art, architecture and design up to the present day, examining its presence in all aspects of life, from children's toys to military craft. The author illustrates the countless uses of air-filled forms, revealing how inflatable objects still evoke the sense of optimism and escape that inspired the first designers in this field, the 18th-century inventors of the hot-air balloon. The author argues that, although inflatable forms have been around for centuries, scientists, architects, artists and manufacturers keep rediscovering this deceptively simple technology. He explains how some of its first applications were extreme environments, where it appealed to scientists and the military. But in the 1960s, artists such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, and design collectives such as Utopie and Archigram, used pneumatic forms to challenge conventional assumptions about the role of materials in art and architecture. Contemporary designers such as Verner Panton and Issey Miyake have incorporated blow-ups into their work, and today inflatables have entered the mainstream market in such diverse structures as toys, furniture and walk-through environments. The artists featured in the book include: Victor Lundy; Hans-Walter Mueller; Otto Frei; Yayoi Kusama; Christo; Claes Oldenburg; Jeffrey Shaw; Lygia Clark; Takashi Murakami; Takahiro Fujiwara; Philippe Parreno; Andy Warhol; Issey Miyake; Archigram; Walter Bird; AJS Aerolande; Francisco de Goya; Haus Rucker; Quasar Khan; Nicholas Grimshaw; and Verner Panton.