Introductory Note
An official Handbook on these lines appeared first in 1946 as part of the British Information Services overseas. Experience had shown that there was in existence no one book prepared primarily for the oversea reader and designed to answer the questions about Britain which are most frequently asked in oversea countries by their writers and teachers, their officials and administrators, and the leaders of their public life. In meeting this need, the book, which has a free distribution overseas, has proved valuable; four revised or rewritten editions have been issued; and in 1952, for the first time, it was placed on sale in the United States and Canada. The book is now established as a main foundation of the reference and library services provided by the official British Information Services in oversea countries.
Though it is thus well known in the circles for which it was intended, the handbook has not before been available in the United Kingdom, or on sale overseas except in North America. Suggestions have from time to time been made that it should be placed on general sale, and it was finally decided to do this after a recommendation by the Inter-Departmental Committee on Social and Economic Research. The handbook contains factual and statistical information, compiled from authoritative and official sources, about the United Kingdom, its people and its institutions. It does not claim to be comprehensive. Its principal purpose is to provide basic data on the main aspects of national administration and national economy and to give an account of the part played by the Government in the life of the community.
In considering its contents, readers in the United Kingdom are asked to remember the original purpose of the book—its oversea distribution. Should any readers need additional or more detailed information they are referred to the Annual Abstract of Statistics, the Monthly Digest of Statistics issued by the Central Statistical Office, and the standard works of reference and Government publications, some of which are listed in the bibliography at the end of this handbook. They are asked to note that the Central Office of
Information reference papers included in the bibliography are available only at United Kingdom Information Offices overseas and for visitors to Britain. In general, the contents of the handbook refer to the United Kingdom as a whole, but where separate facts or figures are available for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, these have, in some cases, been given.
Reference Division,
Central Office of Infromation, LONDON.
October 1953
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