Beyond the Void: The Remarkable History of Badger Books

Over 500 cover illustrations

Badger Books was an imprint of British publishing company, John Spencer & Co., who were active between 1948 and 1967, during which time they published around 800 novels, short story collections and magazines.

They were notoriously bad payers, 10 shillings a thousand words, so a 55,000-word novel would receive £27 ($35). That's not a bad deal if you can knock out a novel over a weekend, or over a few days in the evenings after work. Step forward John S. Glasby, a chemist at ICI, and the Rev. R. Lionel Fanthorpe, at the time a teacher, who, between them, wrote over 400 books for the company!

This is their story, and the story of other toilers in the field at Badger Books from John F. Watt, who wrote most of their science fiction magazines in the early 1950s, to Henry Fox, the imaginative cover artist of over 240 books.

With over 500 cover illustrations, this book explores the history of John Spencer / Badger Books, and includes interviews and essays on many of the leading contributors, including a look at perhaps the worst SF author of all time, Barney Ward!

Author: Steve Holland
Publisher: Bear Alley Books, 2024
Number of pages: 172
Format: Soft Cover; Full Colour illustrations
Size: 8" x 12" (215mm x 300mm)
Condition: NM - Near Mint
Code: BTVOID