The colour scheme of the English Teachers' Forum has been inspired by the colours used by the Penguin publishing venture that began in 1936.

In the production of popular and cheap editions of the classics of English literature, history, science and biography, the contribution of Penguin to the cultural life of English speaking people has been enornmous.

Never before was such a wide variety of quality literature made available to the general public in so many affordable editions; the pulp paper pages may have quickly "yellowed", the glued bindings were never designed to last, but for the price there was nothing like them.

The pocket size, the simple cover designs, the practical colour coding, the plain typography, nevertheless gave the public exactly what they needed - access to the great minds of the past and the present.

In World War II special military edition Penguin books were distributed, in great numbers, to the troops in all the services. Many of these enlisted readers went on to furthering their own education at war's end. And these ex-service people became the backbone of high school teaching in the late 1940's to the 1970's.

It is in humble acknowledgement of the importance of Penguin books that their colours have been employed in this site.

This is not just a homage to a period of publishing, but also to a period of history when "truth" was attacked by intellectual and moral barbarians. People from all around the world struggled against this barbarianism with both their minds and bodies.

The generation that lived through the Great Depression, suffered and fought the wars against Facism, also fought for a democratic and educated world for future generations. It is their precious legacy to us, that should neither be forgotten or squandered.

 

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