First published in 1959, Craftsman and Quaker is the story of one man's life told against a background of the profound social changes of eighty years. Leslie Baily, well-known for his 'Scrapbook' and other historical radio programmes, extracted material from his father's diaries and letters and presented it as a very human story through this book.

James T. Baily began life in humble circumstances in Sheffield, where his own father was a carpenter and joiner. Through many changes of circumstances, J.T.B. became a teacher of crafts and in due course was recognized as one of Britain's leading authorities on crafts-teaching in schools, serving on a deputation to America to study methods over there. His methods and principles were far ahead of his time. During the First World War, J.T.B. organized work for the idle prisoners in internment camps and did similar work in Ireland during the civil war there. He also worked in Germany on famine relief. In the Second War, he had some remarkable experiences among evacuees and refugees.

A former secretary of the National Union of Manual Training Teachers and a Fellow of the College of Handicraft, he was crafts master of the famous Quaker school at Ackworth, a 'Mr. Chips' of real life.