At the Seaside ¦ Getting Dressed ¦ Going to the Fair ¦ Housework

The continuing strength of this series, of which this is the third quartet of titles to be published, lies in its carefully considered approach to its audience.

The texts are immediately engaging, but never patronising, and the selection of contemporary documents, objects and photographs is imaginative. Picture libraries and other sources have been raided skilfully for material which is interesting, apposite and fresh, whilst the balance of archive material and period reconstructions is just about right.

Many products and inventions made their first appearance much earlier than one had imagined, so the time-lines always repay careful scrutiny for their frequently fascinating revelations. In Getting Dressed, for example, we learn not only that the zip was invented in the USA in 1893, but also that knicker elastic was introduced into Britain in 1887!

All in all, a wealth of information about the way things were a century ago is packed into a relatively small yet always accessible format.