In the circumstances of war we have all found ourselves doing new and unexpected things. The oldest and the youngest have studied first-aid, anti-gas technique and the ways of incendiary bombs; or they have learned to rear poultry or rabbits, or to regulate their own diets on scientific principles. As peacetime gave way to war, necessity became the mother of invention. The British population rose to the challenges of privation and took to self help and improvement with an enthusiasm that even today shows no sign of waning. For the last 70 years, we Brits have embraced everything from keeping budgies to tantric sex, business skills to brickwork and Sanskrit to sign language. And one landmark book series has charted this phenomenon, providing a continuous narrative of pre- and post war Britain - Teach Yourself. This book is a record of Britain's changing and sometimes irrevocably changed social landscape via a fancy-that compendium of the quirky, the unlikely and the downright daft. Above all, it is a reminder of our fundamental desire to get on in life. In human behaviour...there are certain drives which are definitely innate. These are not acquired like a taste for kippers or an interest in jazz music. Teach Yourself Sex: Its Meaning and Purpose, 1951 When entertaining at home...If the parking place is in the street, not in the grounds of the house, it would be well to consult the local police beforehand, and perhaps to ask for the services of a constable while the party is in progress. Teach Yourself Etiquette and Good Manners, 1958 The shape and convenient size of a brick enables a man to grip it with an easy confidence and, because of this, brick-building has been popular for many hundreds of years. Teach Yourself Brickwork, 1944 Come with me, now, to some remote and splendid part of the country that hasn't been priced out of everybody's reach save wealthy stockbrokers. Here we are among the eternal hills, and we'll just light a fire of twigs and brew up before we start fishing. Teach Yourself Fly Fishing, 1958