Beyond the Void: The Remarkable History of Badger Books

Beyond the Void: The Remarkable History of Badger Books
Published: 25 March 2024
Format: A4, 172 pages, full colour with matte cover.

Currently available via my Ebay Shop. I'm signed up to the global shipping programme, so this option should be available to anyone wherever they live (warzones excluded).

Also available via Amazon.

American orders can be made via PayPal, price £31.50 UK pounds paid to steve [at] bearalley.co.uk. Please make sure you include your address.

Jules Burt's BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024

BEYOND THE VOID
The Remarkable History of Badger Books

Badger Books was an imprint of British publishing company, John Spencer & Co., who were active between 1948 and 1967, during which time they published around 800 novels, short story collections and magazines. They were notoriously bad payers, 10 shilling a thousand words, so a 55,000-word novel would receive £27 ($75). That's not a bad deal if you can knock out a novel over a weekend, or over a few days in the evenings after work. Step forward John S. Glasby, a chemist at ICI, and the Rev. R. Lionel Fanthorpe, at the time a teacher, who, between them, wrote over 400 books for the company.

This is their story, and the story of other toilers in the field at Badger Books from John F. Watt, who wrote most of their science fiction magazines in the early 1950s, to Henry Fox, the imaginative cover artist of over 240 books. The book explores the history of John Spencer / Badger Books, and includes interviews and essays on many of the leading contributors, including a look at perhaps the worst SF author of all time, Barney Ward.

The book is 172 pages, full colour, and has around 520 cover illustrations.

Reviews

Named Jules Burt's BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024. The video announcing the win can be found here.

Andrew Buckle's review of BEYOND THE VOID can be found here. "This book is brilliant ... If you're a fan of some of these books, this book is going to be a must-buy. I absolutely love it!"