Peter Usborne Obituary

Peter Usborne was a British publisher. In the early 1960s, Usborne co-founded the satirical magazine, Private Eye. In 1973, he founded the children’s book publisher Usborne Publishing. He studied at the University of Oxford and INSEAD Business school in France.

Usborne started working on children’s books when he found out he was going to become a parent. Soon after, in 1973, he set up his own company, which combined popular subject matter with unrivalled quality in equatorial production.

Usborne was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2011 for services to the publishing industry and Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to literature.

Usborne’s best-known books include the Usborne Puzzle Adventure series, the World of the Unknown series, the Book of the Future, Poppy and Sam’s Farmyear Tales and many others.