I can't recall all the authors but I was a very "wide" reader, in fact I would read *anything* if it was the only book available. Arthur Ransome's books about children having adventures in the Lake District are one lot I remember. The "William" books of Richmal Crompton (who came from Bury!). The "Bunter" books of Frank Richards. Things like "Black Arrow" and "Treasure Island" by Stevenson. "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell. "Ivanhoe" by Scott. These are a few.
I was blessed to be possessed of a reading age far ahead of chronology - while still at primary school I read (for example) George Dow's massive three-volume history of the Great Central Railway, and Dow was a lover of many big and unusual words. In those days you figured them out or looked them up. There was none of this "accessible" nonsense. I read a lot of adult railway books because that was my absolute passion. "Tales of the Glasgow and South Western Railway" by D L Smith was another, a wonderful set of anecdotes that most people would enjoy if they could get hold of it - it's a rare book.
I don't think I got into medieval "adult" fiction till I was about 13, and I have an idea the first one I read was Anya Seton's Katherine. At about the same time I discovered that you could also read adult factual books on the middle ages.
The rest is history...
Second Part of this interview coming soon!
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