Sections
Magazine
Latest Issue

Why a referendum on the death penalty might not be as far away as you think, what happens when politicians and judges pass the buck on law-making, why Britain struggles to escape the shadow of hands-off economics and the tricky moral terrain of growing babies outside of the womb. Plus Jacqueline Rose on the violence we ignore a review of Rachel Cusk’s new book

Read Now Or Checkout the archive
Previous
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
Events
Next Event

Watch: Managing global supply chains in a post-Covid world—current challenge or future opportunity?

Previous
What next for pensions? Why the 2020s are the crunch decade—discussion 2
Watch: How do we stop a generation from sleepwalking into retirement?
Watch: Homes for all—what new social and affordable housing can do for Britain
To the archive
Podcast
Latest Episode

#185: The new British metafiction

Previous
The Prospect Podcast #184: The new Conservatives, with Rachel Sylvester
The Prospect Interview #183: Why Britain is condemned to be liberal
The Prospect Interview #182: The rise of the British shock jock
To the archive
Magazine Society & Culture children Play The way we were

The way we were: playtime

Extracts from Lesley Blanch, Geoff Dyer and Jonathan Meades

By Ian Irvine  
November 12, 2019
December 2019

Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Children playing with various toys, in the background are paintings of the Creation and the creation of Adam. Engraving by A. Bosse, 1636. Engraving 1636 By: Abraham BossePublished: 1636 Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

1910

Lesley Blanch describes her Edwardian childhood in Chiswick: “In winter during the long, dark evenings that set in around three o’clock, we spent more time indoors at home, sampling simple indoor diversions. As a special treat we were allowed a large, iron-bound box of ancient playthings which had been discovered by my father in some antique-dealer’s cellar. This had a mysterious quality, like its contents: a painted cup and ball, a baby’s silver-gilt rattle with…

Register today to continue reading

You’ve hit your limit of three articles in the last 30 days. To get seven more, simply enter your email address below.

You’ll also receive our free e-book Prospect’s Top Thinkers 2020 and our newsletter with the best new writing on politics, economics, literature and the arts.

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with newsletters, subscription offers and other relevant information.

Click here to learn more about these purposes and how we use your data. You will be able to opt-out of further contact on the next page and in all our communications.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to letters@prospect-magazine.co.uk

Ian Irvine

Ian Irvine is a freelance writer

More stories by Ian Irvine

More From Prospect