In 1948 Arnaldo Mondadori launched the influential Biblioteca Moderna Mondadori, which aimed to finally solve what Arnoldo Mondadori used to call 'the problem of a good book, at cheap price'. The series was designed to embrace 'timeless classics from all countries, contemporary works that are becoming classics, works contributing to the public understanding of science, introductions of artists or of movements of figurative arts'.
Mondadori started its international operations in the 1950s, setting up a series of offices outside of Italy, while continuing to expand its operations in to the colour magazine market. In 1952, for example, the company began publishing its long-running science fiction series I Romanzi Urania (Urania's Novels). Mondadori continues to publish numerous magazines for Italian and other local markets, including the Australian edition of Grazia. In 1965 Biblioteca Moderna Mondadori was superseded by Oscar, which Mondadori distributed through both traditional book retailing channels and newstands. The company furthered its commitment to selling books through non-traditional retail outlets when it launched its Miti series in 1995. Miti was specifically produced to be sold in supermarkets.
Since 1999 the company has worked in close association with Hearst magazines. Mondadori has interests in other Italian news media such as newspapers (it launched the Italian daily La Repubblica in 1976), radio, and TV.
Mondadori has a long list of imprints, publishing in different languages. To expand and strengthen its presence in the Spanish-language market Mondadori in 2001 formed a joint venture with Random House, the book division of Germany's Bertelsmann Group. Mondadori also has a strong presence in the romance genre market through its Harlequin Mondadori series.
Among the Australian authors to have been published by Mondadori are Nevil Shute, Morris West and A. Bertram Chandler.
