This is a delightful little monograph outlining the conception, development and publication of the classic [b:The Wind in the Willows|5659|The Wind in the Willows|Kenneth Grahame|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630642716l/5659.SX50.jpg|1061285]. Although the author is Professor Emeritus in English and Children’s Literature at Cardiff University, this is not a heavy academic tome, but rather a generously illustrated, easy to read overview.

The Wind in the Willows began its life as a bedtime story for Grahame’s young son Alistair. Grahame was already well known for writing two ‘satirical, witty and ironic books of short stories about childhood’, and had a successful career in the bank, where it would appear he had plenty of time to write ‘(in the Bodleian Library there is a draft fragment of The Wind in the Willows written on Bank paper.)’

We learn about the famous people with whom he rubbed shoulders, and the two women who had an enormous influence on his writing. And the beautiful idylic landscapes that Grahame loved and spent time in, which become an intergral part of the book, are shown in photographs and artwork.

A tidbit of information that I learned is that Arthur Rackham’s illustrations for The Wind in the Willows in 1940 were the last of his career. (As a child I loved his illustrations). There are many suggestions as to who inspired the famous characters who populate the book, however the author suggests that in fact they are all based on different facets of Grahame himself. He never wrote an autobiography, although his publisher nagged him for years to do so. But, ‘perhaps he had already written it in the pages of The Wind in the Willows’.

The rather rocky road to publication is also of interest - isn’t it amazing that so many books that we now consider part of the canon appear to suffer from a similarly close shave with death (i.e. non-publication).

This slender volume is crammed full of colour photos, artworks, original hand-written pages, that add enormously to its enjoyment.