CITIZENSHIP

 Ed. J. S. Lay

 Macmillan 1921

 Crown octavo, 280 pages.

 A work on the social ills facing the nation’s youth, and how they can be avoided, including the chapter, ‘The Problem of the League of Nations’. The Preface is charming – here are the last two paragraphs;

 Knowing that the study of this book will generally range over a full year, I have not hesitated constantly to recapitulate certain vital principals, and if I appear to have erred on the side of optimism, I must plead that youth is an optimist whose ardour must not be damped.

 The writing of this book has been to me of the nature of a great adventure. I trust that it will be found of no less service to those thousands of my kindly fellow-teachers who have found other books of mine of some real service to them in their work.

 The book is bound in red cloth with a Janus logo in the front centre. The spine is faded and has a 1cm split at one side of the top. The boards have a little shelf-wear and very minor bumps, the pages are tight.

 This book, although written approaching a century ago, has some interesting parallels with today. In ‘Exercises’, for instance, question one asks; ‘In a free country has a man the right to ruin his own health, (a) by intoxicating drink, (b) by neglect of exercise, (c) by overwork? Give reasons.

 There is a fascinating section called ‘Short Lives of Great Citizens’. A very interesting and thought provoking book