The Face of Britain (book series)

The Face of Britain was a series of topographical books published by B. T. Batsford from the 1930s to the 1950s that has been described as playing a part in the construction of English identity in that period.[1] The series is notable for the covers by Brian Batsford, who worked under the name Brian Cook.[2]

Cover of Lancashire and the Pennines by Frank Singleton. Designed by Brian Cook.

Volumes

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This list may be incomplete.

England

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  • Chiltern Country by H. J. Massingham (1940)
  • Cotswold Country by H. J. Massingham (1941)
  • East Anglia: A survey of England's eastern counties, etc. by Doreen Wallace (1939, 2nd 1943)
  • English Downland by H. J. Massingham (1936)
  • English Lakeland by Doreen Wallace (1940)
  • The Home Counties by S. P. B. Mais (1942) (2nd edition 1947)[3]
  • The Islands of England: A survey of the islands around England and Wales, and the Channel Islands by J. H. Ingram (1952)
  • Lancashire and the Pennines. A survey of Lancashire, and parts of Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. by Frank Singleton (1952)
  • Lincolnshire and the Fens by M. W. Barley (1952)
  • Midland England by W. G. Hoskins (1949)
  • North Country by Edmund Vale (1937)
  • North Midland Country: A survey of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire by J. H. Ingram (1948)
  • Shakespeare's Country by John Russell (1942)
  • South-Eastern Survey. A last look round Sussex, Kent and Surrey ... Illustrated from the author's photographs. by Richard Wyndham (1940). Revised as South-East England by Ronald Jessup.
  • Wessex: Dorset, Wiltshire, with West Berkshire & East Somerset by Ralph Dutton (1950)
  • West Country by C. Henry Warren (1938)

Scotland

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Wales

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(Northern) Ireland

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  • The Face of Ulster: Antrim, Londonderry, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Armagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Donegal and Down by Denis O`Donoghue Hanna (1952)

The television series "Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages" was based on the book series.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Brace, Catherine (2001). "Publishing and Publishers: Towards an Historical Geography of Countryside Writing, c. 1930-1950". Area. 33 (3): 287–296. doi:10.1111/1475-4762.00032. ISSN 0004-0894. JSTOR 20004166.(subscription required)
  2. ^ "The Colourful World of graphic artist Brian Cook (1910-1991)". Derbyshire Life and Countryside. 4 August 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  3. ^ "The Home Counties by S. P. B. Mais", Norah Richardson, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 92, No. 4677 (27 Oct. 1944), p. 633.
  4. ^ "The Highlands of Scotland by Hugh Quigley, R. M. Adam", review by P. B., Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 84, No. 4370 (21 August 1936), pp. 1042-1043.

Further reading

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  • Batsford, Brian Cook. (1987) The Britain of Brian Cook. London: Batsford. ISBN 0713457007
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