Principles and Heresies

The New Dark Ages: ‘‘Book” as a Four-Letter Word

I read enough of the specialized academic, educational and publishing trade press to have supposed I was no longer susceptible to shock. But a report in Publishers Weekly of the American Textbook Publishers’ 1959 management conference shattered my assurance that I knew the worst. The session was devoted to “new developments in educational materials and media of instruction” and was well bolstered with some twenty-five “guest experts” from the Fund for the Advancement of Education, the National Advisory Committee on the National Education Act, the National Education Association, and various universities and school systems.

FS

About the Author

Frank S. Meyer

Frank S. Meyer was a senior editor of National Review.

Featured Tags

The New Dark Ages: ‘‘Book” as a Four-Letter Word

I read enough of the specialized academic, educational and publishing trade press to have supposed I was no longer susceptible to shock. But a report in Publishers Weekly of the American Textbook Publishers’ 1959 management conference shattered my assurance that I knew the worst. The session was devoted to “new developments in educational materials and media of instruction” and was well bolstered with some twenty-five “guest experts” from the Fund for the Advancement of Education, the National Advisory Committee on the National Education Act, the National Education Association, and various universities and school systems.