Books in the National Book League Readers' Guides series

Arthur Ransome was a keen fisherman as well as a famous children's author, and fishing and other outdoor pursuits feature often in his books. This Reader's Guide was published in 1955 and features Ransome's recommendations for books on fishing, broken down by varieties of fish and fishing practices.

First published in 1955, this guide by British actor Alec Clunes, father of Martin, includes a bibliography not only of British theatre in general, but also histories of individual theatres in Britain, biographies of theatrical figures and books on acting technique.

Alfred Duggan, himself a popular author of historical fiction, wrote this guide to historical fiction in 1957. The guide contains an introduction by Duggan on the development of historical fiction since the 18th century and a bibliography of the most accurate historical novels published between 1923 and 1956.

This 1951 bibliography is in three sections: Section One lists books on the history of the monarchy, Section Two deals mostly with the history of Parliament in the various jurisdictions of the British Isles, and Section Three concerns the meeting of the monarchy and Parliament throughout history.

This guide by J. D. Mackie includes an introduction defending Scottish history as a subject independent from general British history, and a bibliography divided by period and by specific points of interest, including Scottish art and the role played by Scots in the development of the British Empire.

Charles Gibbs-Smith was the leading historian of aviation in the 1960s and 1970s, and published several books on the history of flight in Europe and America. This 1957 Reader's Guide has a detailed bibliography on the histories of a variety of aircraft, as well as a section on aerial battles from World War One onwards.

In this guide to detective fiction, first published in 1958, W. B. Stevenson divides his bibliography of recommended mystery titles into 'The Old Masters' and 'The Moderns', with an extra section for books about detective fiction. Some of the books recommended remain classics of the genre.

Celebrated music critic and historian Alec Robertson wrote this Reader's Guide published in 1956. His bibliography is broken down by musical genre, and contains biographies of a great range of composers from a variety of periods.