When children's books were modern 1: Twentieth Century Britain (1972)
What single image would you choose to represent 20th Century Britain? The Festival of Britain? A Spitfire? An NHS hospital? Well, one plucky educational series of books from the early 70s had the answer: Croydon Whitgift Centre.
Imagine my delight on picking up this, and two other equally brilliant books in the series, going for a song on a second hand book stall. The Whitgift Centre as the apex of civilisation, the bookshop I worked in almost in shot.
But who on earth are the ponderously named Brockhampton Press and why haven't we all been getting very excited about them? Well, they are now part of the Hachette empire, but back then they were famous for publishing big names in children's fiction: Enid Blyton, Biggles, Asterix. This educational series, spanning the late sixties and early seventies, was clearly aimed at muscling in on Ladybird's market lead in non-fiction for children. There are echoes here of the How It Works and Achievements books, though they're much less focussed than those books. But they are still packed with beautiful illustration and fascinating facts.
This book has it all: bingo halls, Blackpool Tower, motorway flyovers, a Wates estate in Ealing, Concorde, Areas of Oustanding Natural Beauty, DNA, a Rover 2000 and Eric Gill.
Here are some spreads from Twentieth Century Britain for your delectation.
Imagine my delight on picking up this, and two other equally brilliant books in the series, going for a song on a second hand book stall. The Whitgift Centre as the apex of civilisation, the bookshop I worked in almost in shot.
But who on earth are the ponderously named Brockhampton Press and why haven't we all been getting very excited about them? Well, they are now part of the Hachette empire, but back then they were famous for publishing big names in children's fiction: Enid Blyton, Biggles, Asterix. This educational series, spanning the late sixties and early seventies, was clearly aimed at muscling in on Ladybird's market lead in non-fiction for children. There are echoes here of the How It Works and Achievements books, though they're much less focussed than those books. But they are still packed with beautiful illustration and fascinating facts.
This book has it all: bingo halls, Blackpool Tower, motorway flyovers, a Wates estate in Ealing, Concorde, Areas of Oustanding Natural Beauty, DNA, a Rover 2000 and Eric Gill.
Here are some spreads from Twentieth Century Britain for your delectation.
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