Inspiring Older Readers

posted on 16 Jun 2026

Did It Happen? by various authors

I’m not sure if everyone who spends an inordinate amount of time scouring second hand, charity and junk shops for books develops a sort of radar for searching out the unusual, the forgotten or the just plain odd titles – the sort that often get labelled ‘old & interesting’. In my case, I seem to be drawn like a moth to a flame when there’s one of these odd or obscure titles lurking almost anonymously on a shelf.

So, I guess I was bound to find Did It Happen? and I was always going to buy it because it had an irresistible jacket ( and unusually for this kind of oddity, the cover was all in tact) which promises:

“FACT OR FICTION?

More than thirty stories of adventure, romance, crime, detection by world famous writers.

True or False? YOU are the judge”

If that’s not enough, there’s also a list of just some of the contributors: Angus Wilson, C.S. Forester, Stevie Smith, George Mikes… Real writers all.

And then there’s the wonderful jacket art which is sadly uncredited but which is redolent of the mid-century aesthetic appropriate to a publication date of 1956.

Inside, the roster of big-name authors blossoms still further with those named on the jacket being joined by Elspeth Huxley, Andre Maurois, William Saroyan, Noel Streatfeild, Eric Williams and a legion of others that, I must admit, I’ve never heard of. Oddly enough, there’s even a contribution from the comedian, Benny Hill!

What then are these stories all about? I can’t do better than to quote the Publisher’s Note that appears at the very front of the book:

“Each of the contributors to tis book of stories, first published in the Evening Standard, has set himself a double task; to beguile the reader; to pose to him the question – did it happen?

Some of these stories are true; some are fiction. As the reader goes through the collection, he is invited to judge the truth or falsity of each, and with a pencil indicate his decision in the space set aside for the purpose….

A key is provided at the end of the book. Which stories are true and which stories are false is indicated on the last page.”

And, after all this build-up and gimmickry, are the stories worth spending time with? Sadly, in general terms, the answer is no. Inevitably the quality of the stories varies considerably but overall the question of whether they were true or false feels only passingly consequential because they are generally so light-touch that the idea that anything important might hinge on the answer to that question feels neither here nor there.

The fact that this collection has been drawn from original contributions to a daily newspaper gives you a good clue to the assumed audience and what their function was expected to be. Clearly, for a paper read by commuters on buses or trams or at the table over breakfast or evening meal, the story has to be short, accessible and non-controversial. They fulfil that function perfectly adequately but, for me at least, all the pleasure lies in the novelty of the concept and the design of the book.

Mind you, I’m glad I only paid £1 for it…….

 

Terry Potter

June 2026