Ladybird Series 561 - Adventures From History

Having recently come to know more about Ladybird books in general, I have been amazed at the great interest still shown in Series 561 - 'Adventures From History'.

There appears to be a variety of reasons why this series in particular continues to be so very popular today. Many people still like to collect each title as part of their full Ladybird books collection. Sometimes parents will come and buy copies for their children if, perhaps, they are doing a school project on a specific character from history. Others just prefer the simple but informative style that Ladybirds use, so that they can learn about different periods of history quickly and easily.

With fifty titles in the series all told, Adventures From History is the biggest series that Ladybird produced between 1940 and 1981. The first title, 'King Alfred The Great', was published with a dustwrapper in 1956 and the last title, 'William Shakespeare', was published some twenty-four years later in 1981.

The first nineteen titles all share three common factors: the same author - L. Du Garde Peach, the same illustrator - John Kenney, and they were all originally published with dustwrappers. The popularity of the books, particularly in schools for history lessons, resulted in them being republished at a later date with matt pictorial boards. The front cover of the later printings displayed the same artwork as seen on the original dustwrappers. Some titles in the series were even republished yet again, this time with different illustrations.

Some of the famous characters that this series examines are: William the Conqueror; Sir Walter Raleigh; Captain Cook; Charles II; Oliver Cromwell; Alexander the Great; Richard the Lion Heart; Joan of Arc and Sir Francis Drake. However, the series doesn't just look at famous people but also 'Great Civilisations' of the past. Nine titles in total are dedicated to these great civilisations: Egypt; Greece; Rome; Crete; The Vikings; The Mycenaeans; Incas; The Aztecs and China.

So, if you're looking for a simple history of a character in history or a great civilization - why not see if there is a title in this series that can help you?

View current stock of Ladybird Series 561 or viiew our information page showing all the titles.

Contributed by Joanne Hill

(Published 6th Apr 2016)