Some Classic Penguin Covers 2 – She Was A Queen

I’ve featured the great Maurice Collis in (or is it ‘on’?) this blog before – see here – and recently just came across an old Penguin version of his book She Was a Queen. This is a 1943 Penguin though Collis’s book was originally published in 1937. It’s not one of Collis’s best and certainly no Foreign Mud or Siamese White, but still of interest being the story of a 13th century Burmese Queen. Collis knew his Burma – Burma Trials is a good book and still reads well – that descends into blood rivalries and nasty feuds.

Interestingly Penguin were putting a lot of ads in their book in 1943 – Allen Lane was trying anything to drum up some cash during the war – so I’ve included a couple of interesing ones. Not sure what the logic was for Penguin? You’ve bought a book on a 13th century Burmese queen now what you should buy – shaving foam? a Mars Bar? who knows!