If the boys of Elderberry Lane in the 1940s are living in a world of deprivation, they are unaware of it. Nor do they realise the degree of freedom they have in this world without computers or television, or even pop music. Grown-ups are remote figures who leave them mostly to their own devices. Free to think for themselves, they are able to investigate the important facts of life in their own way.

Inside the Globe follows the progress of a boy in this world, from pre-school to near-adolescence. Most of the thinking and investigating is done by his older brother, Pete, who is always one step ahead of the crowd., while his best friend Johnny disputes the claims that Pete hands down to the younger kids. The title derives from the boy's own attempt to reconcile Pete's insistence that the world is round with the evidence of his own eyes.

By turns quirky, gripping and poignant, with much going on to entertain and amuse readers of all ages, the books goes far beyond the mere evocation of the social conditions of a bygone age.