THE WORLD OF FRANK RICHARDS

Since the death on Christmas Eve in 1961 of the man known to millions of readers world-wide as Frank Richards, there have been many attempts to write his biography.

Unfortunately, until now, no such work has been published, to the regret of tens of thousands of his admirers, because one cannot read enough about the man who gave such pleasure to so many generations f readers, from 1908 to the present day.

Frank Richards' famous characters Billy Bunter, Harry Wharton, Arthur Augustus D'Arcy in the 'Magnet' and 'Gem' have been analysed and discussed times without number. Hundreds of articles in every kind of publication from 'Encounter' to 'Titbits' have touched on the Frank Richards stories. To add something new to the mountain of extant material on Frank Richards' the man turned out to be even more daunting a task.

Clearly Frank Richards went out of his way to avoid shedding anything but the smallest glimmer of light upon his personal life. His autobiography - which should have been a mine of fascinating fact - succeeded only in leaving its subject more shadowy that ever.

Plainly he wished to keep his private life private, and this desire was properly respected during his lifetime. But Frank richards is history now, and history cannot be suppressed/

Here then is the exhaustively researched story of the man whose writings delighted - and continue to delight - readers of all ages and from all walks of life: the creative phenomenon known to the world as Frank Richards, born Charles St John Hamilton. By the time of his death at Kingsgate at he age of 86 it is estimated that he had written the equivalent of 1000 full-length novels.