In 1942, Worrals and Frecks are sent to Aleppo in occupied Syria to investigate a German propaganda racket designed to stir up unrest among the locals.

What children read in the Second World War had an immense effect on how they came of age as they faced the new world. This time was unique for British children--parental controls were often relaxed if not absent, and the radio and reading assumed greater significance for most children than they had in the more structured past or were to do in the more crowded future. Owen Dudley Edwards discusses reading, children's radio, comics, films and book-related play-activity in relation to value systems, the child's perspective versus the adult's perspective, the development of sophistication, retention and loss of pre-war attitudes and their post-war fate. British literature is placed in a wider context through a consideration of what British writing reached the USA, and vice versa, and also through an exploration of wartime Europe as it was shown to British children. Questions of leadership, authority, individualism, community, conformity, urban-rural division, ageism, class, race, and gender awareness are explored. In this incredibly broad-ranging book, covering over 100 writers, Owen Dudley Edwards looks at the literary inheritance when the war broke out and asks whether children's literary diet was altered in the war temporarily or permanently. Concerned with the effects of the war as a whole on what children could read during the war and what they made of it, he reveals the implications of this for the world they would come to inhabit.

This book will be of interest to students of both children’s literature and gender studies. It re-examines a period long considered to be of poor quality as regards children’s books. It explores a range of themes, such as female agency, power and courage, and additionally gives a linguistic analysis of selected texts. The book adopts a socio-cultural approach, placing the authors in their historical context. By focusing on a small number of authors in depth, it discovers subtleties perhaps ignored by a broad-brush approach. While reflecting their era in some respects, these writers also demonstrated individuality in their representation of gender, offering a wider range of models to their readers than previous critics have acknowledged.

Best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer Biggles, W. E. Johns was a First World War pilot and beloved writer of adventure and science-fiction stories. A prolific author, Johns penned over 160 books, including nearly one hundred Biggles books, more than sixty other novels and non-fiction works, as well as numerous short stories. He was one of the most translated children’s authors of the interwar period, winning the admiration of countless readers across the world. This eBook presents Johns’ collected (almost complete) works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Johns’ life and works * Concise introductions to the series * All 97 Biggles books, with individual contents tables * The complete Steeley, Worrals, Gimlet and Space books too! * Features rare novels appearing for the first time in digital publishing * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * Rare story collections available in no other collection * Includes the two Biggles non-fiction books – appearing here for the first time in digital print * Ordering of texts into chronological order and series order CONTENTS: The Biggles Books The Camels are Coming (1932) The Cruise of the Condor (1933) Biggles of the Camel Squadron (1934) Biggles Flies Again (1934) Biggles Learns to Fly (1935) The Black Peril (1935) Biggles Flies East (1935) Biggles Hits the Trail (1935) Biggles in France (1935) Biggles & Co (1936) Biggles in Africa (1936) Biggles — Air Commodore (1937) Biggles Flies West (1937) Biggles Flies South (1938) Biggles Goes to War (1938) The Rescue Flight (1939) Biggles in Spain (1939) Biggles Flies North (1939) Biggles — Secret Agent (1940) Biggles in the Baltic (1940) Biggles in the South Seas (1940) Biggles Defies the Swastika (1941) Biggles Sees It Through (1941) Spitfire Parade (1941) Biggles in the Jungle (1942) Biggles Sweeps the Desert (1942) Biggles — Charter Pilot (1943) Biggles in Borneo (1943) Biggles Fails to Return (1943) Biggles in the Orient (1945) Biggles Delivers the Goods (1946) Sergeant Bigglesworth CID (1947) Biggles’ Second Case (1948) Biggles Hunts Big Game (1948) Biggles Takes a Holiday (1948) Biggles Breaks the Silence (1949) Biggles Gets His Men (1950) Another Job for Biggles (1951) Biggles Goes to School (1951) Biggles Works It Out (1952) Biggles Takes the Case (1952) Biggles Follows On (1952) Biggles — Air Detective (1950) Biggles and the Black Raider (1953) Biggles in the Blue (1953) Biggles in the Gobi (1953) Biggles of the Special Air Police (1953) Biggles Cuts It Fine (1954) Biggles and the Pirate Treasure (1954) Biggles Foreign Legionnaire (1954) Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter (1954) Biggles in Australia (1955) Biggles’ Chinese Puzzle (1955) Biggles of 266 (1956) No Rest for Biggles (1956) Biggles Takes Charge (1956) Biggles Makes Ends Meet (1957) Biggles of the Interpol (1957) Biggles on the Home Front (1957) Biggles Presses On (1958) Biggles on Mystery Island (1958) Biggles Buries a Hatchet (1958) Biggles in Mexico (1959) Biggles’ Combined Operation (1959) Biggles at the World’s End (1959) Biggles and the Leopards of Zinn (1960) Biggles Goes Home (1960) Biggles and the Poor Rich Boy (1960) Biggles Forms a Syndicate (1961) Biggles and the Missing Millionaire (1961) Biggles Goes Alone (1962) Orchids for Biggles (1962) Biggles Sets a Trap (1962) Biggles Takes It Rough (1963) Biggles Takes a Hand (1963) Biggles’ Special Case (1963) Biggles and the Plane That Disappeared (1963) Biggles Flies to Work (1963) Biggles and the Lost Sovereigns (1964) Biggles and the Black Mask (1964) Biggles Investigates (1964) Biggles Looks Back (1965) Biggles and the Plot That Failed (1965) Biggles and the Blue Moon (1965) Biggles Scores a Bull (1965) Biggles in the Terai (1966) Biggles and the Gun Runners (1966) Biggles Sorts It Out (1967) Biggles and the Dark Intruder (1967) Biggles and the Penitent Thief (1967) Biggles and the Deep Blue Sea (1967) The Boy Biggles (1968) Biggles in the Underworld (1968) Biggles and the Little Green God (1969) Biggles and the Noble Lord (1969) Biggles Sees Too Much (1970) Biggles Does Some Homework Uncollected Biggles Stories The Steeley Books Sky High (1936) Steeley Flies Again (1936) Murder by Air (1937) The Missing Page (1937) The Murder at Castle Deeping (1938) Wings of Romance (1939) Nazis in the New Forest (1940) The Worrals Series Worrals of the W.A.A.F. (1941) Worrals Flies Again (1942) Worrals Carries On (1942) Worrals on the War-Path (1943) Worrals Goes East (1944) Worrals of the Islands (1945) Worrals in the Wilds (1947) Worrals Down Under (1948) Worrals Goes Afoot (1949) Worrals in the Wastelands (1949) Worrals Investigates (1950) The Gimlet Books King of the Commandos (1943) Gimlet Goes Again (1944) Gimlet Comes Home (1946) Gimlet Mops Up (1947) Gimlet’s Oriental Quest (1948) Gimlet Lends a Hand (1949) Gimlet Bores in (1950) Gimlet off the Map (1951) Gimlet Gets the Answer (1952) Gimlet Takes a Job (1954) The Space Books Kings of Space (1954) Return to Mars (1955) Now to the Stars (1956) To Outer Space (1957) The Edge of Beyond (1958) The Death Rays of Ardilla (1959) To Worlds Unknown (1960) The Quest for the Perfect Planet (1961) Worlds of Wonder (1963) The Man Who Vanished into Space (1963) Other Fiction The Ravensdale Mystery (1941) The Badge (1950) The Spy Flyers (1933) The Raid (1935) Champion of the Main (1938) The Unknown Quantity (1940) Sinister Service (1942) Comrades in Arms (1947) Adventure Bound (1955) Adventure Unlimited (1957) No Motive for Murder (1958) Where the Golden Eagle Soars (1960) The Non-Fiction The Biggles Book of Heroes (1959) The Biggles Book of Treasure Hunting (1962)

When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, it came as no surprise to the children of Germany: the Nazis had been preparing them for a war ever since they had come to power in 1933. To British children it was an altogether different matter. Children all over Britain were deeply affected by the war: many were separated from their parents by evacuation or bereavement; all had to 'make do and mend' with clothes and toys; and some even died while contributing to the war effort at home. In this moving and often amusing account, Mike Brown describes what life was like on the Home Front during the war from a child's point of view. His fully illustrated narrative includes details of evacuation, rationing, coping with gas masks and air raids, entertainment and the important - and often dangerous - roles of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. This photographic history pays tribute to the generation of girls and boys who grew up under the shadow of the Second World War.

First published in 1998, this volume explores how the genre of school stories had become firmly established by the turn of the twentieth century, having been built on the foundations laid by writers such as Thomas Hughes and F.W. Farrar. Stories for girls were also taking on a more exciting complexion, inspired by the ‘Katy’ books of Susan Coolidge. The first five decades of the twentieth century saw further developments in children’s fiction. In this comprehensive volume, John and Jonathan Cooper examine each decade in turn, with alphabetically arranged entries on popular children’s writers that published works in English during that period. 206 different authors are covered, many from the United States and Canada. Each entry provides information on the author’s pseudonyms, date of birth, nationality, titles of works, place and date of publication and the publisher’s name. The artist responsible for a book’s illustrations is also identified where possible. With over 200 illustrations of cover designs and dustwrappers, many of which are now rare and have never before been published, this book will delight collectors, dealers, scholars, librarians, parents and all those who simply enjoy reading children’s fiction.