2008 sees the 70th anniversary of the original self-improvement series, teach yourself. As prime ministers have come and gone and hemlines have risen and fallen, teach yourself has remained constant, helping us to make the most of both our leisure time and our working lives.

teach yourself – a potted history

• In 1938 the teach yourself phenomenon was born
• During the Second World War servicemen learnt invaluable skills with the help of our books, including how to fly, how to navigate and how to speak Russian
• A resourceful post-war nation turned to the series to learn how to rear pigs, keep chickens and to cook up a powdered egg and Spam treat in the kitchen
• Over the past seven decades, teach yourself has provided a barometer of how we’re spending both our work and leisure time
• We’ve feng-shui’d, we’ve line-danced, we’ve kept bees and milked cows, and conversed like locals in Swahili and Xhosa
• There are currently over 500 subjects to choose from, including over 65 languages
• Each year, more than 1.25 million teach yourself books are sold

Help us celebrate this publishing phenomenon in 2008 – a year which sees over 70 new titles, hugely entertaining commemorative editions and an amusing stroll through the past with People with a Purpose.