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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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The Wind in the Willows
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(1908) Children's classic by Kenneth *Grahame, evolved from bedtime stories told to his only son, Alastair. The tentative Mole makes friends with Ratty (a water rat, whose chief passion is 'messing about in boats') and together they get involved with the owner of the local grand house, the larger-than-life Toad; his dangerous driving lands him in prison from which he escapes disguised as a washerwoman, only to find that Toad Hall has been taken over by stoats and weasels from the Wild Wood, who are evicted with difficulty. (It has often been pointed out that the story reflects an Edwardian leisured existence, complete with Toad the cad, with the perceived threat of social unrest in the background.)
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The book appeared first without pictures, but later illustrators have included E.H. *Shepard, Arthur *Rackham and John Burningham. It was dramatized with great success by A.A. Milne in 1929 as Toad of Toad Hall, which was for many years a traditional Christmas entertainment in London.
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