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The Haunted Wood
A History of Childhood Reading
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Brief Description
A Financial Times, TLS, Economist and New Statesman Book of the Year 2024 Can you remember the first time you fell in love with a book? The stories we read as children matter. The best ones are indelible in our memories; reaching far beyond our childhoods,...
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See moreA panoramic and poignant history of children’s literature
A panoramic and poignant history of children’s literature
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Description
A Financial Times, TLS, Economist and New Statesman Book of the Year 2024
Can you remember the first time you fell in love with a book?
The stories we read as children matter. The best ones are indelible in our memories; reaching far beyond our childhoods, they are a window into our deepest hopes, joys and anxieties. They reveal our past – collective and individual, remembered and imagined – and invite us to dream up different futures.
In a pioneering history of the children’s literary canon, The Haunted Wood reveals the magic of childhood reading, from the ancient tales of Aesop, through the Victorian and Edwardian golden age to new classics. Excavating the complex lives of our most beloved writers, Sam Leith offers a humane portrait of a genre and celebrates the power of books to inspire and console entire generations.
'A MARVEL' PHILIP PULLMAN
'A DELIGHT' JULIA DONALDSON
'GLORIOUSLY ENTERTAINING' TOM HOLLAND
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781836430407
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 04 September 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Oneworld Publications
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 42.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 592
About the Author
Sam Leith is Literary Editor of the Spectator. He has also written extensively for the Guardian, TLS, Financial Times, Telegraph and Daily Mail, and was a judge for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. His previous books include You Talkin' To Me?: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Trump and Beyond, and Write To The Point: How to be Clear, Correct, and Persuasive on the Page.
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