Mike Brown

Evelyn August

"Of all modern notions, the worst is this: that domesticity is dull. Inside the home, they say, is dead decorum and routine; outside is adventure and variety. But the truth is that home is the only place of liberty, the only spot on earth where a man [sic] can alter arrangements suddenly, make an experiment or indulge a whim." --G.K. Chesterton Thus begins the Black-Out Book. At once a time capsule and a paean to domestic tranquility, the Black-Out brings together over five hundred games, pens_es, puzzles, jokes, and literary snippets a simpler, yet in many ways more dangerous time than our own. Published during one of the darkest hours of British history, a time when curfews and rationing kept people close to their homes, the book offers insights into a bygone time, but can still delight 70 years on. While some passages are specific to 1940's England--'A thought for the petrol-rationed motorist' and 'What happened to the shilling?'--others are truly timeless--'Prayers of the Great' (Henry VIII, Raleigh, Plato), and 'What to do when sleep won't come.' Published to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the start of WWII, but also at a time when Americans are turning once again toward domestic pleasures, the Black-Out Book is destined to find a new audience in the 21st century.

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