Scouting for Boys

The book that began it all . . . as you’ve never seen it before.

The book that started the worldwide Scout movement, Scouting for Boys, by Robert Baden-Powell, is now available as an interactive mobile app for iPad. It contains over 250 pages of the original manuscript, which has never before been seen in public.

Originally published in 1908 in six parts, the book is reputed to have sold over 100 million copies worldwide and translated into over 80 languages, making it the world’s fourth bestselling book after the Bible, the Koran and Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book. The blueprint for Scouting now takes on a new lease of life as part of an interactive app that allows you to explore the text and its background in more detail than ever before. The app contains:

• Over 250 pages the original manuscript of Scouting for Boys
• The original annotated typescript
• The six original published parts
• Baden-Powell’s own account of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island
• Expert analysis and background information
• A new essay on Scouting for Boys by Professor Elleke Boehmer
• Sketches, cover artwork and photography
• Letters, papers and reviews
• Video and Audio

The app also contains a host of background documents, previously only available to scholars, including B-Ps contract with his publisher, letters and corrections. You can also explore the book reviews from the time, which hail the book as a groundbreaking work.

The manuscript, containing about one third of the full text, is a fascinating document for anyone with an interest in Scouting. Alongside the first ever written versions of the Scout Promise and Law, it was also the first time Baden-Powell wrote down his famous motto Be Prepared. It is all the more remarkable for the fact that it was rescued from the bin in Baden-Powells study by his secretary, handed to The Scout Association many years later. The new essay by Professor Elleke Boehmer places Scouting for Boys in a historical and global context.

‘It is also easy to forget how radical many of the ideas contained within this manuscript were at the time and remain relevant to this day,’ says the Founder’s grandson. ‘He genuinely wanted to break down racial, class and religious barriers to create a better citizen. His concept of a better citizen wasn’t one of nationalistic or militaristic character but a global ambassador for peace and goodwill.’

By purchasing this app you are both supporting the valuable work of The Scout Association helping 400,000 boys and girls experience the fun, friendship and adventure of Scouting.

The Scout Association is a registered charity number 306101 (England and Wales) and SCO38437 (Scotland)

Join the adventure at www.scouts.org.uk
A printed version of the Scouting for Boys manuscript is also available from www.scouts.org.uk/shop