Because the Bulgarian publishing industry has emphasized the quantity of books available in terms of copies rather than variety or number of titles, there has been some serious criticism of policy, particularly from the newspapers. In fact, among the Balkan countries, Bulgaria ranks below Yugoslavia, Romania, and Turkey in the number of titles published annually. One newspaper claimed that of the total number of books published in 1972, only approximately one-third were so-called real books, meaning that they were not simply textbooks or brochures. This newspaper claimed that foreign literature was not well known in Bulgaria and pointed out that the literature of Asia, Africa, and South America had increased by only 470 titles since 1939. The state not only is in charge of the publishing houses themselves but also supervises the distribution of books throughout the country. Editorial councils are the final authorities in determining the output of individual publishing houses. The one exception to the general administration of publishing houses is the publication of textbooks. In this case the Committee on Art and Culture is responsible for the printing of textbooks, and the Ministry of National Education is, in turn, responsible for their distribution. _Table 13. Bulgaria, Book and Pamphlet Publication, 1971_ -------------------------------------+--------------+--------+---------- | Total Number | Book | Pamphlet Subject of Publication | of Titles | Titles | Titles -------------------------------------+--------------+--------+---------- Marxism-Leninism | 26 | 23 | 3 Communist party | 270 | 158 | 112 Socialist and communist construction | 181 | 97 | 84 Foreign policy and economics | 94 | 74 | 20 Philosophy | 70 | 52 | 18 History | 147 | 121 | 26 Economics | 29 | 21 | 8 Production | 90 | 82 | 8 Finance | 15 | 11 | 4 Labor and trade unions | 55 | 39 | 16 Legal and constitutional system | 73 | 53 | 20 Military policy | 38 | 28 | 10 Natural science and mathematics | 261 | 225 | 36 Technology and industry | 490 | 415 | 75 Agriculture and cooperatives | 284 | 214 | 70 Trade and nutrition | 51 | 37 | 14 Transportation and communications | 75 | 64 | 11 Community affairs | 4 | 4 | ... Health | 215 | 157 | 58