Whitaker's Britain

Book excerpt: Whitaker's Britain draws on an extensive archive which dates back to 1868 when Joseph Whitaker first published Whitaker's Almanack. With its combination of facts, figures and commentary on subjects as diverse as politics, finance, royalty and astronomy, Whitaker's Almanack was such an unprecedented success that it had to be reprinted immediately and is still published annually today. Whitaker's archive provides a unique window into a fascinating world. Old editions are extraordinary cultural and social artefacts, offering a real historical insight of all the major historical events from the last century-and-a-half as they were recorded at the time. Whitaker's Britain includes detailed digests of historical events, extensive information on the British Empire and the Royal Family plus annual summaries, written at the time, on subjects as wide-ranging as 'Science and Invention', 'The Weather' and 'The Royal House'. There is also an 8-page colour insert of brand new infographics, using re-formatted data from the original editions to give a comparative history across the decades, and a selection of truly remarkable advertisements, reproduced in their original form.