Rural Modernity in a Time of Crisis: Preservation and Reform in the Books of B. T. Batsford
Rural Modernity in a Time of Crisis: Preservation and Reform in the Books of B. T. Batsford
This chapter examines publisher B. T. Batsford’s popular ‘English Heritage’ and ‘Face of Britain’ series, focusing on their subject matter, the range of authors commissioned to write for them (including such figures as H. J. Massingham, Dorothy Hartley, S. P. B. Mais, and Edmund Vale), the books’ graphic art, marketing, and overall interpretation of the challenges facing the rural world. Peter Lowe describes the transformation of an oppositional view of the rural/modern relationship into a less conservationist, more reformist position by 1945. He argues that the books played a significant role in the construction of an idea of English/British cultural identity that proved vital to the nation’s defence. At the same time, wartime events enabled Batsford authors to adopt a more conciliatory tone on the issue of post-war rebuilding. Ultimately, conflicts over rural modernity were subsumed into larger debates about exactly which ‘Britain’ was to survive into the twenty-first century.
Keywords: B. T. Batsford, English Heritage, Face of Britain, Graphic art, World War II publishing, British identity, Postwar rebuilding
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