Louise Lamprey Books for 1920s Children
/Louise Lamprey wrote historical fiction for young readers. She was known for including careful historical backgrounds/details in her stories. I browsed 4 of her books from the 1920s available on Internet Archive recently.
Days of the colonists, (1922)
Masters of the Guild, (1920)
Children of Ancient Gaul, (1927)
Long-ago people: how they lived in Britain before history began, (1921)
These books reflect the 1920s perception of historical time periods. It is thought provoking to think about how that perception has changed over the past 100 years…broadening to include more perspectives from non-elites (people that were behind the scenes like women, minorities…whole cultures that interacted within a hierarchy). These are not books that would be suitable for children now. It is startling to realize that in the 1920s, many children did not survive childhood because of whooping cough and other childhood diseases that are avoided via vaccination now. There were no computers or video games. The audience for Lamprey’s books were children with very different experiences than children today! And perhaps only children from wealthy families has access to books like these.
