Best of Girl, the

For girls growing up in 1950's Britain, "Girl" was essential reading. Each week there would be another gripping installment of "Susan of St Brides - Nurse of the Year"; Lettice Leefe, the greenest girl in the school, would get herself into heaps of trouble; advice column "Mother Tells You How" would provide wise words on how to pack for a holiday weekend; "Concerning You" would reveal how to choose the most flattering spectacles and the Girl Picture Gallery of lovely paintings to cut out and keep would feature pin-ups of the day such as Humphrey Littleton and Princess Margaret, and a variety of delightful woodland creatures and garden birds. "The Best of "Girl"" is a fascinating window onto this hilariously wholesome bygone age of fine upstanding virtue for those too young to remember it, and a completely compulsive nostalgia trip for those who aren't.