First with the News. The history of W H Smith, 1792-1972

Notes:

Scholarly commissioned history. Structured in three parts: Part 1] '1792-1949': 'A tale of two cities'; 'Communications and culture'; 'London and provincial - the first W H Smith'; 'Father and son - a crisis resolved'; 'Building the bookstall empire'; 'Managing the bookstall empire'; 'Changing partners, 1885-1905 - a crisis of management'; 'The turn of the screw, 1894-1906'; 'Prewar - reform, recovery, diversification'; 'War without precedent'; 'Labour relations'; 'The interwar years - economic contours'; 'Hard times and heart searching - the 1920s and 1930s'; 'The provincial wholesale houses - a state within a state'; 'The structure of the firms - plus ca change'; Part 2] 'Enterprise and popular culture': 'The circulating library'; 'Taste, morality and law - the distributor's lot ...'; Part 3} '1949-72': 'The contours of change'; 'Planning for the future'; 'Progress and profitability'. Extensive appendices provide analysis of turnover, profit, capital employed, share prices, staff numbers, etc. Includes list of directors, 1949-72, and family tree of the Smith family (from H W Smith, 1738-92). Includes much generally about advertising industry; retailing and wholesaling of publications; circulating libraries; various associations with railway companies