Philip Wray has done an excellent job in bringing together different aspects of the history of Preston, a tiny village near Hitchin. He first became interested when researching his ancestors and as his family tree grew he discovered he was a blood relative to almost half the villagers listed in the 1881 census. For this reason he expanded his interests to cover the whole village, and in 2007 he launched the History of Preston in Hertfordshire web site. He then ventured into on-paper publishing and has now ended up writing this book.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. You've emphasized the presentation of the book which is appreciated as a lot of thought and time went into this. DTP programs have significantly advanced the possibilities for colourful design in books and other publications. In the final analysis, if a book looks attractive, it is more likely to sell and then be read - which is the object of the exercise. Though substance is still more important than form. Some local history books even today are in a dour b&w format with no attempt at inventive laying out. Producing a 'coffee table' publication was the aim. But one had to strike a balance between having 'white space' and the number of pages - which would have upped the price. The most satisfying part is that when folk see the book for the first time, their reaction invariably is to say 'Wow!'.