Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
We think we know the trench coat, but where does it come from and where will it take us? From its origins in the trenches of WW1, this military outerwear came to project the inner-being of detectives, writers, reporters, rebels, artists and intellectuals. The coat outfitted imaginative leaps into the unknown. Trench Coat tells the story of seductive entanglements with technology, time, law, politics, trust and trespass. Readers follow the rise of a sartorial archetype through media, design, literature, cinema and fashion. Today, as a staple in stories of future life-worlds, the trench coat warns of disturbances to come.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Jane Tynan is Assistant Professor of Design History and Theory, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Introduction
1. Substance
2. War
3. Mobility
4. Insurgency
5. Reportage
6. Heroes or Villains
7. Outsiders
8. Style
Conclusion
Postscript
Notes
Index