In the decades following 1945 a new kind of playground emerged in Northern Europe and North America. Rather than slides, swings and roundabouts, the new playgrounds encouraged children to build shacks and invent their own entertainment. This book tells the story of how bombsites and waste ground were transformed into hives of activity by children and progressive educationalists. It shows how a belief in the imaginative capacity of children shaped a new kind of playground, and how designers and landscape architects reimagined what playgrounds could be. Playgrounds tells a compelling story of pioneers, designers, charities and support structures – and the value of play. Today, as we face unparalleled challenges, the enormous social ambition of these spaces is also an inspiring object-lesson.