The English at Home.

'a nation divided behind a façade of civility'

The English at Home is Bill Brandt's first book. He took the photographs between 1931 and 1935, beginning the project after moving to London. Brandt prepared a maquette, which his brother Rolf took to several publishers, all of whom rejected the idea. Eventually, Batsford, who had facilitated Paris After Dark (1933), the English edition of Brassai's Paris de Nuit (1932), took it on. Potential interest for the foreign market led to the inclusion of both English and French captions.

The combination of spontaneous and occasionally posed photographs shows life in Britain between the wars. By juxtaposing images that contrast and highlight the two extremes of the well-defined class system, Brandt's portrayal of English types and stereotypes shows a nation divided behind a façade of civility.

Robert Frank cites The English at Home as an important influence, providing him with 'a clear model of how dichotomy could be used to unify a group of photographs, imparting order as well as rhythm.'

First edition; 4to (232 x 184 mm, 9¼ x 7¼ in); black-and-white photographs printed in gravure, captions in English and French; photo-illustrated endpapers, photo-illustrated laminated paper-covered boards overprinted in yellow, titles to spine and upper side in red, minor wear to extremities, head and foot of spine rubbed taking out first and last letter, wear to lower joint, light scratching to upper side, a bright copy; [ii], 8, [62]pp.

The Book of 101 Books pp90-1; The Photobook: A History Vol I p138; The Open Book pp122-3.