The stories we read as children extend far beyond our childhoods; they are a window into our deepest hopes, joys and anxieties. They reveal our past - collective and individual, remembered and imagined - and invite us to dream up different futures.

In a pioneering history of children's literature, from the ancient world to the present day, Sam Leith reveals the magic of our most cherished stories, and the ways in which they have shaped and consoled entire generations. Excavating the complex lives of beloved writers, Leith offers a humane portrait of a genre - one acutely sensitive to its authors' distinct contexts.