This is a quite delightful book, published by Penguin, and with a forward by Malcolm Muggeridge. It was controversial and, despite being passed by the board of Penguin (5-4) for publication, Allen Lane(the chairman and founder of Penguin) appeared at the warehouse one night and had stocks put into a farm truck to be 'disposed of'.

Fortunately, a few examples survive and, with 50+ years passing, they appear rather tame when compared to cartoons that one can now find in any newspaper. Ironically, one of the cartoons shows Napoleon, in his famous pose, except that his hand is inside his trousers, rather than his jacket. As if to prove my point, the Times of today (17th May 2011) has a character in exactly the same pose!

Harmless fun for even the most prudish today.

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Apparently many copies of this book were destroyed by Allen Lane himself as it was considered offensive. Certainly some of the cartoons could be deemed controversial. ( )