Sparrow Books (the children's book arm of Arrow Books) was notable for the first publication of the Lone Wolf series of gamebooks. Sparrow later became Beaver Books, and Sparrow's parent company Hutchinson Publishing was later absorbed into Random House Ltd.Early in 1928, a Danish newspaper ran a competition to mark the centennial of the celebrated author Jules Verne. The winner would re-enact the globe-circling voyage undertaken by Phileas Fogg in Verne's bestselling novel, Around the World in 80 Days. For reasons a 21st-century parent can only wonder at, however, Politiken decided the contest should be open only to teenaged boys, who – if they won – would have to complete the circumnavigation unaccompanied, within 46 days, and without using planes.

Fresh-faced, freckled, with a snub nose, a shock of bright red hair and a penchant for plus-fours, 15-year-old boy scout and car showroom clerk Palle Huld left Copenhagen on March 1 and duly circled the globe – including then-wartorn Manchuria and foreigner-unfriendly Moscow – by train and passenger