In 1929 the first monthly book sales club was set up in Britain, modelled on the American Book-of-the-Month Club.

Members received a new book through the post each month, carefully selected by a panel of judges. If you were a member, this was an easy way to keep up with new writing and to buy books at a time when owning books was not common. If you weren’t a member, it would have been difficult to have missed the Book Society’s Choices in bookshops, libraries, and in the news.

Check out The Book Society’s Choices and Recommendations for the most popular book club authors of the mid-twentieth century.