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Looking at the World
356 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1961
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October 22, 2024
Looking at the World was first published in 1961, with second and third editions in 1964 and 1967. This hefty book had previously been published in four parts in 1960, with an overall series name of “Looking at Geography”. The four individual books are:
Part 1: Looking at Other Children
“telling of the lives of children of other lands”
Part 2: Looking at Everyday Things
“tells of things we eat and use in everyday lives”
Part 3: Looking at Britain
“tells of Britain today”
Part 4: Looking at the World Today
“shows how people live in parts of the world which differ widely in climate and development”
It is an extremely heavy book, with pages sized between an average hardback novel and an oversize book, and the weight of an encyclopaedia. At 356 pages the weight comes as a surprise. The reason is the dense quality of paper stitched into the spine, and the fact that, oddly, thick glossy paper is used for the pages of text, and cartridge paper for the occasional full-page colour illustrations. There are just 15 pages of these colour plates and at the time it was standard for these plates to be on glossy, not matte paper. There are also nearly a thousand line drawings, maps, diagrams and small monochrome photographs interspersed in the text. Throughout the four parts there are chapters about maps, the weather, the seasons and travel in the world today.
The authors are Jean and David Gadsby, and the general editor of the series is R.J. Unstead. This is a famous name from the time, who produced many history and geography books both as school textbooks and general interest books. I remember my mother-in-law coming home with one she had bought herself with some Christmas money. It was on Tudors and Stuarts, and she was rather embarrassed when she realised it had been published for children. They are factual, and the books are good for their time, but would not now have much appeal for children. The content and tone of this one also mean that it is strictly one for the collectors.
R.J. Unstead (1915-1988) was an historian and prolific author of history books, most of which were written for young readers. He had been a teacher, and during the Second World War he worked as a physical training instructor for the air force. Later he became an operations room controller and then took part in the Normandy landings. After the war he went back to education, and became the headmaster of a Primary School in Hertfordshire. Dissatisfied with the existing school text books, R.J. Unstead started to write history books with pictures, which he felt would be more appealing to the young. He wrote and edited over 40 books, some of which sold in their millions, before developing ideas for books written by others (such as this one).
As well as books for British children, R.J. Unstead collaborated on five books on Australian history, and was invited to the White House in the USA, after his “Story of Britain” had been chosen by the Library of Congress as one of the “best books of the year”.
Jean and David Gadsby have produced a book very much in keeping with Unstead’s way. It is extremely informative, with each section having its own list of contents, acknowledgments, list of illustrations (some of these illustrators are familiar from fiction books of the time) at the beginning, and a revision “Let’s Remember” section at its end. The entire book also has one index at the end.
It is evident that everyone involved has put a lot of effort into making this book geared to appeal to Primary School children and a little older, but sadly it missed the mark for me. I remember being given this as a present, and much preferring my story books! It is in the end rather dry, and smacks of school in its presentation. Some thirsting for knowledge may much prefer a factual book of course, but this book is still one for the collectors, rather than children today.
Much of the content is out of date, and the language used reflects different attitudes, very much of their time. Here is the beginning of Part 2, which shows just how little relevance this has to modern life:
“It is Friday. Mr Bell has gone to work and Peter and Susan have gone to school. Mrs Bell is clearing the breakfast table. Oh! There is the doorbell ringing. The coalman is at the back door. “Five bags Ma’am?” he says, and while he puts them in the coal bunker Mrs Bell picks up the bottles of milk from her step. She puts out a note telling the baker to leave two loaves.
Soon Mrs Bell sets off for the shops. It is a cold day and rain is forecast so she puts on her woollen coat and takes her nylon umbrella. Then she catches a bus to town.
Mrs Bell first takes Peter’s shoes to the shoe repairer’s. “Leather soles and heels, please,” she says.
At the butcher’s shop she chooses meat for Sunday’s dinner. What shall she buy? Argentine beef or New Zealand lamb?
Mrs Bell goes to the grocer’s shop and orders tea, sugar, butter, bacon and eggs. The grocer will deliver them …”
and so on in this vein for 4 more paragraphs. The double page spread ends by saying that the rest of the section will explain how all these products are sourced. Some of the accounts are largely still accurate, but what is most startling is that hardly any of the above description describes modern life in Britain. It would be more use as a tutorial in modern social history, on the lines of “How many differences can you spot?”
The most dated part, oddly enough is Part 4: Looking at the World Today, (the final section). The part which describes apartheid in South Africa makes a bold attempt to be neutral rather than condemnatory, but is in danger of falling over its own perceived “correctness” for the time. In fact all the descriptions of governance sound rather odd to modern ears. Take this wince-worthy one, about New Zealand:
“Today there are fourteen times more Europeans than Maoris, and most Maoris speak both their language and English. The Dominion has no “colour bar”, and a Maori can marry a European. There are Maori Members of Parliament, lawyers and doctors - in fact the Maoris have equal rights with the white New Zealanders.
New Zealand needs more British immigrants. The Dominion is nearly as big as the British Isles, and yet in Greater London alone there are four times as many people as there are in the whole of New Zealand.”
The audacity of that second paragraph took my breath away. But then the entire section on New Zealand comprises just 6 pages, and is heavily based on commerce. I loved New Zealand when I visited it, but if you read this, you would believe it to be a land whose main concerns are sheep and dairy farming (as is the section on Australia, oddly set way apart from this one.) There is mention of two indigenous animals, both flightless birds, the kiwi and the “notornis”. I had never heard of the latter one, but it looked like a takahe (a highly prized, almost extinct bird) and indeed it is a takahe. There is a little description of the unique geological features, but the section a whole is hardly a good representation of the country, nor does it inspire one to visit or learn about it. Another paragraph about a voyage round the world embarrassed me with its parochialism:
“In New Zealand, as in Australia, the crew really feels at home. They have met many strange people at posts on the way, but New Zealand is a country of people from Europe, many of them from Britain. (Some of the New Zealand policemen even wear the same helmets as the British ”bobbies”.)”
But just a few lines from the section on the USA serve to show how different everyday life is now:
“The U.S.A is today one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It produces more of the following than any other country:
Minerals: petroleum, copper, lead, zinc
Crops: cotton, maize
Metals: steel
“man-made” goods: rayon, synthetic rubber
As a result, many of the people have cars, telephones, refrigerators and similar luxuries.”
Luxuries? Nuff said?
Part 1: Looking at Other Children
“telling of the lives of children of other lands”
Part 2: Looking at Everyday Things
“tells of things we eat and use in everyday lives”
Part 3: Looking at Britain
“tells of Britain today”
Part 4: Looking at the World Today
“shows how people live in parts of the world which differ widely in climate and development”
It is an extremely heavy book, with pages sized between an average hardback novel and an oversize book, and the weight of an encyclopaedia. At 356 pages the weight comes as a surprise. The reason is the dense quality of paper stitched into the spine, and the fact that, oddly, thick glossy paper is used for the pages of text, and cartridge paper for the occasional full-page colour illustrations. There are just 15 pages of these colour plates and at the time it was standard for these plates to be on glossy, not matte paper. There are also nearly a thousand line drawings, maps, diagrams and small monochrome photographs interspersed in the text. Throughout the four parts there are chapters about maps, the weather, the seasons and travel in the world today.
The authors are Jean and David Gadsby, and the general editor of the series is R.J. Unstead. This is a famous name from the time, who produced many history and geography books both as school textbooks and general interest books. I remember my mother-in-law coming home with one she had bought herself with some Christmas money. It was on Tudors and Stuarts, and she was rather embarrassed when she realised it had been published for children. They are factual, and the books are good for their time, but would not now have much appeal for children. The content and tone of this one also mean that it is strictly one for the collectors.
R.J. Unstead (1915-1988) was an historian and prolific author of history books, most of which were written for young readers. He had been a teacher, and during the Second World War he worked as a physical training instructor for the air force. Later he became an operations room controller and then took part in the Normandy landings. After the war he went back to education, and became the headmaster of a Primary School in Hertfordshire. Dissatisfied with the existing school text books, R.J. Unstead started to write history books with pictures, which he felt would be more appealing to the young. He wrote and edited over 40 books, some of which sold in their millions, before developing ideas for books written by others (such as this one).
As well as books for British children, R.J. Unstead collaborated on five books on Australian history, and was invited to the White House in the USA, after his “Story of Britain” had been chosen by the Library of Congress as one of the “best books of the year”.
Jean and David Gadsby have produced a book very much in keeping with Unstead’s way. It is extremely informative, with each section having its own list of contents, acknowledgments, list of illustrations (some of these illustrators are familiar from fiction books of the time) at the beginning, and a revision “Let’s Remember” section at its end. The entire book also has one index at the end.
It is evident that everyone involved has put a lot of effort into making this book geared to appeal to Primary School children and a little older, but sadly it missed the mark for me. I remember being given this as a present, and much preferring my story books! It is in the end rather dry, and smacks of school in its presentation. Some thirsting for knowledge may much prefer a factual book of course, but this book is still one for the collectors, rather than children today.
Much of the content is out of date, and the language used reflects different attitudes, very much of their time. Here is the beginning of Part 2, which shows just how little relevance this has to modern life:
“It is Friday. Mr Bell has gone to work and Peter and Susan have gone to school. Mrs Bell is clearing the breakfast table. Oh! There is the doorbell ringing. The coalman is at the back door. “Five bags Ma’am?” he says, and while he puts them in the coal bunker Mrs Bell picks up the bottles of milk from her step. She puts out a note telling the baker to leave two loaves.
Soon Mrs Bell sets off for the shops. It is a cold day and rain is forecast so she puts on her woollen coat and takes her nylon umbrella. Then she catches a bus to town.
Mrs Bell first takes Peter’s shoes to the shoe repairer’s. “Leather soles and heels, please,” she says.
At the butcher’s shop she chooses meat for Sunday’s dinner. What shall she buy? Argentine beef or New Zealand lamb?
Mrs Bell goes to the grocer’s shop and orders tea, sugar, butter, bacon and eggs. The grocer will deliver them …”
and so on in this vein for 4 more paragraphs. The double page spread ends by saying that the rest of the section will explain how all these products are sourced. Some of the accounts are largely still accurate, but what is most startling is that hardly any of the above description describes modern life in Britain. It would be more use as a tutorial in modern social history, on the lines of “How many differences can you spot?”
The most dated part, oddly enough is Part 4: Looking at the World Today, (the final section). The part which describes apartheid in South Africa makes a bold attempt to be neutral rather than condemnatory, but is in danger of falling over its own perceived “correctness” for the time. In fact all the descriptions of governance sound rather odd to modern ears. Take this wince-worthy one, about New Zealand:
“Today there are fourteen times more Europeans than Maoris, and most Maoris speak both their language and English. The Dominion has no “colour bar”, and a Maori can marry a European. There are Maori Members of Parliament, lawyers and doctors - in fact the Maoris have equal rights with the white New Zealanders.
New Zealand needs more British immigrants. The Dominion is nearly as big as the British Isles, and yet in Greater London alone there are four times as many people as there are in the whole of New Zealand.”
The audacity of that second paragraph took my breath away. But then the entire section on New Zealand comprises just 6 pages, and is heavily based on commerce. I loved New Zealand when I visited it, but if you read this, you would believe it to be a land whose main concerns are sheep and dairy farming (as is the section on Australia, oddly set way apart from this one.) There is mention of two indigenous animals, both flightless birds, the kiwi and the “notornis”. I had never heard of the latter one, but it looked like a takahe (a highly prized, almost extinct bird) and indeed it is a takahe. There is a little description of the unique geological features, but the section a whole is hardly a good representation of the country, nor does it inspire one to visit or learn about it. Another paragraph about a voyage round the world embarrassed me with its parochialism:
“In New Zealand, as in Australia, the crew really feels at home. They have met many strange people at posts on the way, but New Zealand is a country of people from Europe, many of them from Britain. (Some of the New Zealand policemen even wear the same helmets as the British ”bobbies”.)”
But just a few lines from the section on the USA serve to show how different everyday life is now:
“The U.S.A is today one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It produces more of the following than any other country:
Minerals: petroleum, copper, lead, zinc
Crops: cotton, maize
Metals: steel
“man-made” goods: rayon, synthetic rubber
As a result, many of the people have cars, telephones, refrigerators and similar luxuries.”
Luxuries? Nuff said?
Displaying 1 of 1 review