"There has long been a need for an authentic record of the HN series of Royal Doulton figures, from HN I onwards up to the present day, to give collectors the details and background information they have so often requested. This book is the result of a long and detailed study of figures, pattern books, old catalogues, price lists, trade and other journals and other records, supplemented by discussions with designers, artists and craftsmen past and present and correspondence and meetings with collectors in many lands. The aim throughout has been to try to answer those questions most asked by collectors concerning the origins, historical development, styles of design and decoration, dating, and later development of the Royal Doulton figure. A feature of this book is the unusually large number of illustrations of figures, nearly all in full colour. Here, for the first time since the Royal Doulton figures were introduced over 65 years ago, will be found a complete record of all known discontinued models, as well as those in current production"--Foreword, p.7.