Publications
They Wrote about Sussex. A collection of biographical studies, by Richard Knowles, published 1 April 2003 (126 pp., Country Books, ISBN-10: 1898941815 & ISBN-13: 9781898941811) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15154] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:"No County in England has been more written about than Sussex." That was the opinion of Arthur Beckett when he launched The Sussex County Magazine in December 1926. A decade later George Aitchison wrote: "Of the making of Sussex books there in no end." There is still no end to the making of Sussex books, more of them appear every year, and some like The South Downs by Peter Brandon, which was published in 1998, seem sure to take their place among the county's classics. Every collector of Sussex books will have his own ideas about which books are local classics and their opinions will differ. There are, nonetheless, a small number of books that you might expect to find in any significant collection. These are books like The Spirit of the Downs by Arthur Beckett, The Shepherds of Sussex by Barclay Wills and A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect by the Rev. W.D. Parish; books that have stood the test of time without losing any of their appeal. This volume provides biographical sketches of the authors of these works, highlighting how they were connected with the county.
Some of the writers were, as one might expect, born and bred in Sussex, but some came to the county as children, some came later in life and one was only ever a visitor. Some were concerned to record a local way of life that was disappearing and some sought to uncover the past, while others simply celebrated their emotional attachment to the county by trying to explain what made it so special for them. All gave their work a personal stamp, an originality that sets it apart from run of the mill county guides and memoirs.
Some of the writers were, as one might expect, born and bred in Sussex, but some came to the county as children, some came later in life and one was only ever a visitor. Some were concerned to record a local way of life that was disappearing and some sought to uncover the past, while others simply celebrated their emotional attachment to the county by trying to explain what made it so special for them. All gave their work a personal stamp, an originality that sets it apart from run of the mill county guides and memoirs.