In this pioneering work about the precursor to the comic book, Kelly Boyd traces the evolution of the boys' story paper and its impact on the imaginative world of working-class readers. From the penny dreadful and the Boy's Own Paper to the tales of Billy Bunter and Sexton Blake, this cultural form shaped ideas about gender, race, class and empire in response to social change. This study is an important analysis of a neglected part of popular culture.

'It is a painstaking, purposeful and detailed commentary on the concept of masculinity as purveyed in the boys' periodical...' - Patricia Craig, Times Literary Supplement

'This is a well-written book and could easily be finished in one sitting. But it is also a monograph that is packed with new interpretations and intelligent re-assessments. Cultural and gender historians of this period will be rewarded by giving this book their closest scrutiny.' - Professor Stephen Heathorn, Indiana University, Indianapolis