
The Little Red Schoolbook
When it first appeared in the 1970s, The Little Red Schoolbook was banned by the UK authorities, which confiscated copies and prosecuted the publisher under the Obscene Publications Act. Why? Because this little book aimed to educate teenagers about democracy, sex and drugs - in frank, simple language - and encouraged them to view adults as "paper tigers".
The Little Red Schoolbook has been unavailable for more than 40 years, but it remains surprisingly relevant for young people today. Reissued here in its original and uncensored format, with informative footnotes and a new foreword by the surviving author Soren Hansen, it encourages teenagers to have the confidence to seek information for themselves, challenge authority and question the status quo.
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The Little Red Schoolbook
I am delighted that this is back in print. This is the second copy I have bought. I bought my first copy in about 1974 (height of the hippy era). I think I bought it mail order through an advertisement in Private Eye. I was 14 years old, and attending a Catholic boarding school at the time. The Little Red Schoolbook was what you would call an underground publication, along with magazines like OZ. I was alone among my peers in even having heard of this book. I remember making a point of reading it during mass. I still think that was a good Catholic thing to do -- if a bit Jesuitical. Thank you for keeping it in print. Looking at the text again, 40-something years later, I am reminded how much this book helped me at the time I first read it, as a young teenager in an oppressive boarding school. It is written with great clarity and precision, and adressed all the issues that I faced at the time.