THE W. E. JOHNS RED FOX PAPERBACKS PAGE ONE OF three 20 DIFFERENT
BIGGLES TITLES WERE PUBLISHED BY “RED FOX” BOOKS PLUS 26 REPRINTS WITH
DIFFERENT COVERS OF THESE 46 BIGGLES BOOKS, 20 WERE PUBLISHED
BY RED FOX WITH THE DISTINCTIVE RED AND BLACK SPINE BETWEEN 1992 AND
1996. SIXTEEN OF THE ORIGINAL TWENTY
WERE THEN REPUBLISHED IN 2003 AND 2004 WITH “RETRO” STYLE COVERS AND
MULTI-COLOURED SPINES. ALL OF THESE
RED FOX PAPERBACKS WERE A STANDARD 18 CENTIMETRES BY 11 CENTIMETRES IN SIZE. TEN OF THESE BOOKS WERE THEN REPULISHED
IN 2014 AND 2015 AT A LARGER SIZE, 20 CENTIMETRES BY 13 CENTIMETRES, WITH
MORE MODERN COVERS FEATURING AIRCRAFT AND WITH THE PHRASE “ADVENTURES WITH AMAZING FLYING MACHINES!” |
In 1989, Red Fox (the children’s paperback published division of
Random Century) were offered the chance of re-issuing the Biggles books. Caroline Thomas was asked by her publishing
director to read some and report on their suitability for a modern
audience. She read a dozen and
reported back that she didn’t think they would work. They lacked an emotional content and were
too formulaic. However, after writing
her report, Caroline kept on reading the Biggles books. Her report was ignored and it was decided
that six books would be published in July 1992 and four more would follow
early in 1993. Caroline was then asked
to handle the project and enthusiastically accepted, having changed her mind
since her report. Caroline had to
decide which six to publish. She
picked her favourite, Biggles
Flies East and Biggles
Learns to Fly (which was the only book the last publishers had kept in
print). Biggles Defies the Swastika was chosen as
a fast moving adventure and Biggles
in Spain as an inter-war adventure.
Biggles in the
Orient
was chosen for its detective element and finally, Biggles & Co., was chosen
as it featured Von Stalhein and Caroline enjoyed the story. Red Fox found an illustrator in Spain to do
the covers, who signs as “FABA”. As
can be seen below, the illustrations are all excellent works of art, but some
are particularly outstanding. Caroline
Thomas was interviewed for Radio 4 and the interviewer, John Hosken, himself
a big Biggles fan, persuaded her to add Biggles Fails to Return to the list of titles to be released
the following year. Also chosen was Biggles Sweeps the Desert, but with
the title altered to Biggles
Defends the Desert, no doubt in case any readers thought Biggles
had a brush rather than a brush with death.
Caroline was then struggling to choose two more titles and contacted John Trendler, editor of the fan magazine “Biggles & Co”, and together
they both agreed on The
Rescue Flight and The
Cruise of the Condor. Caroline
then panicked about whether modern schools and libraries would “accept the
presentation of cannibalistic South American Indians, evil half castes, and
Uncle Tom-like black rubber tappers” in the latter story and reluctantly
swapped that book for Biggles
of the Camel Squadron. The
title was updated to Biggles
of the Fighter Squadron so people expecting real Camels didn’t get the
hump when they didn’t find them.
Caroline now had ten novels to publish. She asked John
Trendler to update the foot notes to help explain to the
modern reader was a “mess” was and what a “Batman” did. Certain edits had to
be made to the text, to remove the dreaded N word or other offensive
comments. It was also suggested to
Caroline that perhaps she should cut out the references to smoking, but she
didn’t act on that suggestion. The
twenty books eventually published included four of the five original John
Hamilton books (the first Biggles books). Biggles Flies Again was the one
not republished. Both of the “Boys’
Friend Library” Biggles books were published – the first time that Biggles in France was available
since that now impossible to find paperback edition from 1935! It is generally considered that the 20
Biggles books published by Oxford University Press between 1935 and 1943 are
amongst the best. Yet only 8 of these
20 appeared as Red Fox paperbacks. It
is interesting to note that Red Fox only considered the early Biggles books
worth re-publishing. With the sole
exception of Biggles Foreign Legionnaire (originally published in September
1954), no Biggles book was re-published by Red Fox other than ones printed
between 1932 and 1947. All of the
Biggles books from 1948 to 1970 (a total of 65 books!) were ignored, with
that one exception of Biggles
Foreign Legionnaire. Why was
that? ALL OF THESE
BOOKS WERE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT £3.50 EACH EXCEPT FOR THE LAST TWO,
(BIGGLES FLIES WEST & BIGGLES GOES TO WAR), PUBLISHED IN JULY 1996 AT
£3.99 EACH PAGE
ONE – Shows the original 20 Red Fox Biggles books that were
published between 1992 and 1996. PAGE
TWO – Shows the
16 other (reprinted) Red Fox Biggles books titles published in 2003 and 2004,
which all feature NEW covers with different
artwork. PAGE
THREE – Shows 10 larger sized reprints, published in 2014 and 2015,
which all feature another set of NEW covers with different artwork. IF YOU CLICK ON THE FRONT COVER OF ANY BOOK ILLUSTRATED BELOW, YOU CAN ENLARGE THE PICTURE SO
YOU CAN APPRECIATE THE DETAIL OF THE ARTWORK. IF YOU CLICK ON THE REAR COVER OF ANY BOOK, YOU CAN ENLARGE THE PICTURE FOR EASY READING. |
BIGGLES
LEARNS TO FLY – FRONT Originally
published in March 1935 – This paperback was published on 16th
July 1992. 204 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES LEARNS
TO FLY – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE LAST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES FLIES
EAST. – FRONT Originally
published in August 1935 – This paperback was published on 16th
July 1992. 238 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES FLIES
EAST – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES &
CO. – FRONT Originally
published in April 1936 – This paperback was published on 16th
July 1992. 192 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES &
CO. – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES IN
SPAIN – FRONT Originally
published in May 1939 – This paperback was published on 16th July
1992. 208 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES IN
SPAIN – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES
DEFIES THE SWASTIKA – FRONT Originally
published in August 1941 – This paperback was published on 16th
July 1992. 190 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES
DEFIES THE SWASTIKA – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES IN
THE ORIENT – FRONT Originally
published in April 1945 – This paperback was published on 16th
July 1992. 190 pages. Cover illustration
– FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES IN
THE ORIENT – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES OF
THE FIGHTER SQUADRON – FRONT Originally
published in March 1934 as BIGGLES OF THE CAMEL SQUARDON – This paperback was
published on 4th January 1993. 208 pages. Cover illustration
– FABA/NORMA. The
particularly exciting cover picture on this book was also used as the cover
of the reprint of a biography of W. E. Johns.
Called BIGGLES! – THE
LIFE OF CAPT. W.E. JOHNS by Peter Berresford Ellis & Jennifer
Schofield, this was a 1993 edition of the 1981 original. |
BIGGLES OF
THE FIGHTER SQUADRON – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES AND
THE RESCUE FLIGHT – FRONT Originally
published in May 1939 as THE RESCUE FLIGHT – This paperback was published on
4th January 1993. 205 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES AND
THE RESCUE FLIGHT – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES
DEFENDS THE DESERT – FRONT Originally
published in September 1942 as BIGGLES SWEEPS THE DESERT – This paperback was
published on 4th January 1993.
206 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES
DEFENDS THE DESERT – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES FAILS
TO RETURN – FRONT Originally
published in October 1943 – This paperback was published on 4th
January 1993. 222 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES FAILS
TO RETURN – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
|
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BIGGLES THE
CAMELS ARE COMING – FRONT Originally
published on 7th September 1932 as THE CAMELS ARE COMING – This
paperback was published in 1993. 203 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES THE
CAMELS ARE COMING – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES IN
FRANCE – FRONT Originally
published in November 1935 – This paperback was published in 1993. 223 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES IN
FRANCE – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES THE
CRUISE OF THE CONDOR – FRONT Originally
published in August 1933 as THE CRUISE OF THE CONDOR – This paperback was
published on 21st July 1994. 206 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES THE
CRUISE OF THE CONDOR – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES AND
THE SECRET MISSION – FRONT Originally
published in May 1937 as BIGGLES – AIR COMMODORE – This paperback was
published on 21st July 1994.
190 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. The cover
illustration echoes an original illustration from the first edition. |
BIGGLES AND
THE SECRET MISSION – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE Look at the second one, (labelled page 59)
and note how the composition is identical to the cover of the Red Fox
paperback. |
BIGGLES
DELIVERS THE GOODS – FRONT Originally published
in April 1946 – This paperback was published on 21st July
1994. 205 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES
DELIVERS THE GOODS – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES
FLYING DETECTIVE – FRONT Originally
published in August 1947 as SERGEANT BIGGLESWORTH C.I.D. – This paperback was
published on 21st July 1994.
222 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES
FLYING DETECTIVE – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES AND
THE BLACK PERIL – FRONT Originally
published in March 1935 as THE BLACK PERIL – This paperback was published on
1st June 1995. 192 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES AND
THE BLACK PERIL – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES
FOREIGN LEGIONNAIRE – FRONT Originally
published in September 1954 – This paperback was published on 1st
June 1995. 190 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. The cover
illustration echoes an original illustration from the first edition. |
BIGGLES
FOREIGN LEGIONNAIRE – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE Look at the second one, (opposite page 65)
and note how the composition is identical to the cover of the Red Fox
paperback. |
BIGGLES FLIES
WEST – FRONT Originally
published in September 1937 – This paperback was published 4th
July 1996. 190 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES FLIES
WEST – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
BIGGLES GOES
TO WAR – FRONT Originally published
in May 1938 – This paperback was published on 4th July 1996. 189 pages. Cover
illustration – FABA/NORMA. |
BIGGLES GOES
TO WAR – REAR FOR A STORY SUMMARY – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE VERY FIRST HARDBACK EDITION OF THIS BOOK – CLICK HERE |
THE RED IN
THE SPINES OF THESE BOOKS WAS VERY PRONE TO FADING FROM SUNLIGHT |
The two Red Fox omnibus Biggles Books can be seen HERE. They feature the covers from Biggles & Co and Biggles Flies West |
THE RED IN
THE SPINES OF THESE BOOKS WAS VERY PRONE TO FADING FROM SUNLIGHT |
These pages
were added to www.biggles.com
on 18th August 2019 which is EXACTLY 72 years to the
day that “Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.” was published in 1947. That book was republished by
Red Fox as
“Biggles Flying Detective” – (see above) – but was an important one in the
Biggles saga as it was the first “Air Police” story. Every book that followed was then an Air
Police story.