My Mum swore by Katie Stewart's books but I tend to rely on an early 1960s copy of the 'Good Housekeeping's Cookery Book' for basics, topped up with a smattering of Delia's 3 part 'Cookery Course', although it's interesting how many of the recipes from the latter seem to match those in the former, including the mistakes. Delia does 'continentalise' a bit more, using ingredients that were more common in the 70's than the 50s & 60s.
Otherwise I find I use single recipes from a multitude of books or chase round the internet for recipes for the ingredients I've already got.
But for Christmas I was given 'Good Things in England' by Florence White. This is a lovely book for those that like traditional British cooking, with a wealth of recipes taken from the past and a paragraph or two about the origins or background of the dish.
Florence White founded 'The English Folk Cookery Association' (which folded soon after her death in 1940) and toured Britain finding old recipes and talking to old cooks and chefs about their skills and arts.
It isn't cheap for a paperback (if the price on the flyleaf is anything to go by) but if you want to try your hand at some traditional cooking it's worth a look. I haven't yet tried any of the recipes so can't judge as to how well the cooking instructions will transfer to modern equipment, but as long as you know your equipment and have some idea as to how the dish should turn out, you should be Ok.