The Royal Scrapbook (Scrapbook S.)

Rating:
Summary: An everyday history of Royal folk.
Review: Americans, living as they do in a republic, seem to have an ongoing fascination with the British monarchy, a small elite of non-elected leaders who indulge a life of privilege and affluence and in Robert Opie's super book you can follow the history of the Royals from Victorian times to the recent Queen's Golden Jubilee. Although the book only has sixty-two pages it opens up to spreads twenty-one by fifteen inches and there are over 1,500 items to look at.

Opie's Scrapbooks (there are eight others) all follow the same style, each themed spread is a collection of printed ephemera and related material, usually presented as one carefully arranged still-life photo with some text explaing the background to the items shown. For instance, the spread on Queen Elizabeth's 1953 Coronation has five magazine covers, postage stamps, a ball-point pen, seven candy packages, six children's books, a pack of playing cards, a London Transport subway map and several other items, they all have a reference to the Coronation printed on them.

The events covered include coronations, weddings, jubilees, births and deaths and it does get a bit overwhelming with so much colourful material to look at but that is one of the joys of these books, you can keep coming back and discover something for the first time.

If you want to see how the Royals are presented to the British public through everyday printed items you will enjoy Mr Opie's latest Scrapbook.