My family were great readers. If nothing else was available we would read the labels on sauce bottles.

But my introduction to reading was probably comics - the Dandy and the Beano told amusing stories in pictures and in words, so that was helpful for a young reader.

Later the Wizard and the Hotspur were mostly text. We joined libraries as soon as we were allowed in.

Richmal Crompton's William books were early fodder; in one of the books, written before we knew much about Hitler, William had read about Herr Hitler and his National Socialists, soon shortened to Nazis.

William quite liked the idea of being a dictator, but to him, Herr sounded like her – too girly by half – so William's gang were called Himm Hitler and his nasties.

“William” books were a glimpse of how the other half lived – the Brown family had a maid and a cook and possibly a gardener, and did they have a car?

Books then were written by those who had the leisure to do so. When the war started W. E. Johns's “Biggles“ books were required reading for boys and often bought as birthday presents. Malcolm Saville's and Arthur Ransome's books were devoured eagerly.

What was I reading at say 15 years old? I think it was Bulldog Drummond and Edgar Wallace, followed by the great detective stories.

Those books were mostly published in the inter-war years (not many books came out during the war I fancy) but I was reading them after the Second World War.

But here's a tip for any author who wants his books to be timeless – never mention wages or prices! In one of Dorothy Sayers' books Lord Peter Wimsey staggers all his friends by having the biggest house in the county built for him at the colossal cost of £2,000. Ludicrous when I read it and even more so now of course.

Debauching the currency has always been the government's favourite activity.

Marjorie Allingham was my favourite of the time, and to show how much things change, in one of her books the word “judgement” appears in a letter, and one character knows who wrote the letter because only one person spelled it that way, as the approved spelling was at that time “judgment”.

Marjorie's best seller was I think The Tiger in the Smoke. Another book I have fond memories of is The Skeleton in the Clock by John Dickson Carr, which is so badly written it's good again, but I love it because the scenes are set in an old execution chamber, in a hall of mirrors and other gothic settings.

I am currently re-reading all the Ed McBain 87th precinct books, and look forward to seeing the effects of the Miranda and Escopedo “be nice to suspects” rules.

  • Last time I asked who wrote “The rain it raineth...” That was Lord Bowen. Now who wrote “Reading maketh a full man”?