A biography of the journalist and children's editor and writer, Arthur Mee (1875-1943). It draws on approximately 700 letters sent by Mee to his friend John Derry, as well as letters between Mee and Alfred Harmsworth.The book aims to enable readers to locate the brand of Arthur Mee as journalist and children's editor/author within the wider cultural, political and social context of England c. 1900-1943 and provide an antidote to the “overly romanticized nostalgia attached to Mee's name”.There is a focus on Mee’s patriotism, faith and belief in Empire, and discussion of his creation of the Children’s Encyclopaedia and Children’s Newspaper.Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsPrefaceONE. BeginningsStaplefordA Nonconformist UpbringingAn Ordinary SchoolingThe Making of a JournalistLondon, Marriage and FamilyTWO. Caught in the Harmsworth WebWorking for “the Chief”The Harmsworth Self-Educator“I Have to Think of My Career”“A Most Attractive Individual”Eynsford HillTHREE. Manufacturing a BrandThe Idea of ChildhoodContext and CompetitionThe Children’s EncyclopaediaConnecting With ChildhoodThe Children’s NewspaperFOUR. God, Faith and EvolutionThe Meaning of LifeDarwinism, Evolution and Faithviii Arthur MeeA Eugenic SocietyTemperance and the Evils of DrinkFIVE. A Matchless EnglandLiterature and Heroes“The Most Beautiful Land on Earth”A Principled WarSIX. An Accidental EmpireAn Empire of Good IntentionsA Darwinian EmpireBeing English, White and AustralianBeing an Aboriginal AustralianSEVEN. Society, Humanity and OrderAt War with Poverty and Ignorance“This Civil War”The Angel in the HouseSociety at HomeEIGHT. The Challenge of the ModernOld and New EnglandThe “Kinema"All That JazzMind Your LanguageSaving the CountrysideNINE. “A Heartbreaking World”Shattered Dreams“My England Book”Hopeful DaysNotesBibliographyIndex
