History

DK was founded as a book-packaging company by Christopher Dorling and Peter Kindersley in London in 1974, and in 1982 moved into publishing. The first book published under the DK name was a First Aid Manual for the British voluntary medical services; this book established the company's distinctive visual style of copiously illustrated text on a glossy white background. DK Inc. began publishing in the United States in 1991.

In 1999 DK printed 13 million copies of a book on Star Wars but failed to sell all but 3 million of them leaving them in crippling debt and leading to being taken over the following year as reported here.

In 2000, DK was acquired by the Pearson PLC media company, which also owns the Penguin Books label. Titles that DK has published include The Way The Universe Works and The Way Science Works.

Publications

DK publishes an extensive range of titles internationally for adults and children. DK books aim to be educational and distinctive, and are produced with help from expert authors and organisations such as the British Medical Association, the Royal Horticultural Society, British Red Cross, St John's Ambulance, St Andrew's Ambulance and many others. The company also publishes educational PC CD-ROMs for younger and older people.

DK also made many educational movies.