Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1906 to a family with a publishing background, Elek migrated to Britain in 1938, having "fallen foul" of the Horthy administration "because of his liberal views".
From 1943, Paul Elek published a number of "high-class"[1] and often large-format books on art and architecture, including several series, Ancient Cities and Temples, The Making of History, Centres of Art and Civilization, and a short series, name unknown, of highly illustrated books on mediaeval architecture.
He also published a number of "popular war reminiscences",[1] including Richard Pape's first book, Boldness Be My Friend, which would save his firm from bankruptcy.
That book was an account of Pape's Second World War adventures as a navigator in a Lancaster bomber that was shot down close to the German/Dutch border, and his captures and escapes.
Other books The Medici, Marcel Brion (WS) (1969) Lucknow: the Last Phase of an Oriental Culture, Abdul Halim Sharar (1975) The Hindu Temple, George Michell (1977)