In 1950 a venerable, once highly successful, long-ailing magazine quietly expired. Richard Usborne, the assistant editor in its dying days, later recalled an aficionado's touching reaction. 'When the Strand finally folded in 1950, my old sixth-form master wrote to me regretfully: "I loved the dear old Strand. To tell you the truth, I have not opened a copy of it in this century." Perhaps he was the typical reader we were up against.'

LRB 23 May 1996 | PDF Download