Well and truly back from the dead, vinyl records are enjoying an astonishing renaissance.

Just this month, Taylor Swift's new album, The Tortured Poets Department, achieved an extraordinary feat by selling 859,000 vinyl copies in the US in its first week alone, setting a new record for the largest vinyl sales week in the modern era.

A go-to for DJs, audiophiles, and Swifties (that's Taylor Swift fans, for the uninitiated) alike, the physical format is effortlessly out-performing CDs in sales across multiple markets including the US. It's also returned to the UK inflation basket for the first time since 1992.

Read on to discover the history of vinyl – including its heyday and lowest points – and find out how the format began to recover during the late noughties before the recent full-on revival.

All dollar amounts in US dollars.