Portsmouth Papers still fab at forty

The 40th anniversary of the Portsmouth Papers is being celebrated with the publication of a new booklet in the local history series.

Settlers, Visitors & Asylum Seekers is the 75th Portsmouth paper to have been published.  Covering an enormous range of subjects, there's sure to be one to interest everyone - from the history of the city's pubs and breweries and the artist WL Wyllie, to the origins of the city, the Second World War and postwar rebuilding, Portsmouth's novelists, the railways, the Civil War in the town and the growth of Southsea.

The first paper in the series, Portchester Castle by Professor Barry Cunliffe, was published in 1967. 

John Stedman, local history officer, said: "To have published so many entertaining, informative and scholarly booklets over such a long period is a remarkable achievement for a council.  Outside London there is no similar series of local history publications devoted to the story of a single town, or covering that story so comprehensively.  Portsmouth should be proud of this achievement."

Review copies of this or other booklets in the series are available from John Stedman, editor of the series, at Portsmouth City Museum & Records Office, Museum Rd, Portsmouth, PO1 2LJ   tel. 023 9282 7261 Fax 023 9287 5276, john.stedman@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Portsmouth Papers are available from the City Museum & Records Office, The Central Library and on-line at www.portsmouthmuseums.co.uk