The Idea

Les Case had found that there was really nothing available for the less academic children, between the ages of 9 and 14, to help them enjoy and learn history.

So, he produced his own worksheets which drew the attention of a representative from Evans Brothers Ltd. Les felt that these could be usefully produced in book format but publishers could then only conceive of the traditional hard back text book and the market seemed uncertain.

A colleague of Les pointed out that he had hit upon an approach to history very similar to that used by Ridout in a successful series of English text books. Evans Brothers took the plunge with the first three Knowing British History text books and the response was so good that teachers were soon asking for more books on other history topics.

Knowing British History soon gave rise to two other related series Knowing Ancient History and Knowing World History and then the idea spread beyond history when the Knowing World Geography series was published.

Like many good ideas the Knowing philosophy is a simple one. Rather than children trying to concentrate on long passages or long lessons, they are able to focus on short passages of well illustrated text which incorporate exercises and questions.

In this way confidence grows as knowledge is assimilated and the student's grasp of the subject is consolidated. It is a method particularly suitable for the Humanities. These are the essential building blocks for later studies and examination success.

As a busy teacher and department head, Les could not personally produce all the books that were needed. Amongst the other history authors are L. F. Hobley, L. Hartley, Josephine Kamm and Brenda Ralph Lewis.