Harry Potter and the Philosoper’s Stone

Bloomsbury releases Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling in the UK. The book is about a young orphan boy who learns that he’s a wizard, thus opening him up to an underground magical world. Along the way he becomes best friends with characters, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Grainger. He also learns of the threat to the “wizarding” world, Lord Voldemort, and his connection to the villain. The original print of 500 copies becomes popular in the U.K. Rowling speaks of the book’s creation:

In 1990, I was in Manchester looking for a flat, but I decided to take the train back to London and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head during the journey. I had been writing since I was six, but I had never been as excited about an idea as I was for this book. Coincidentally, I didn’t have a pen and was too shy to ask anyone for one on the train, this gave me the full four hours on the train to think up all the ideas for the book. I began to write ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ that very evening.