Playing the Game

Drawing on Baden-Powell's extensive archive, Playing the Game is a rich and evocative selection of his writings, on peace - a major theme throughout his career and the theme of the 2007 centenary celebrations - on his own life, from his wonderful idiosyncratic anecdotal autobiography, and includes a healthy sprinkling of some of BP's more memorable aphorisms, such as "I don't mind confessing I have a weakness for hippos" and "The man who holds the average boy's attention for more than seven minutes is a genius", not to mention "Knowledge without character is mere pie-crust".

Imbued with a strong sense of the splendour and the old-school Empire feel of Baden-Powell's work, Playing the Game offers a dazzling window into a world that's gone, but whose legacy remains alive, not least in the 28 million members of the Scouts Association.