Twenty-one Stories

Educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, Greene began his career as a sub-editor for The Times of London. He first gained recognition as a novelist with his fourth book, Orient Express, published in 1932.

His travels profoundly influenced his work. In 1935, he journeyed across northern Liberia, an experience detailed in A Journey Without Maps (1936). Greene converted to Catholicism in 1926, a decision that informed several of his novels, often referred to as his “Catholic” novels, including Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, and The End of the Affair. His reporting on religious persecution in Mexico in 1938, documented in The Lawless Roads, served as background for his celebrated novel The Power and the Glory.

During World War II, Greene worked for the British secret service in Sierra Leone. Post-war, he traveled extensively as a journalist, with his experiences reflected in novels such as The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, The Comedians, Travels with My Aunt, The Honorary Consul, The Human Factor, Monsignor Quixote, and The Captain and the Enemy.

In addition to his numerous novels, Greene authored several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, two autobiographies (A Sort of Life and Ways of Escape), two biographies, and four children’s books. He also contributed hundreds of essays, film, and book reviews to The Spectator and other journals, many of which were compiled in the posthumous collection Reflections.

Many of his novels have been adapted into films, including The Third Man, which Greene initially wrote as a film treatment. Graham Greene was honored with the Companion of Honour and the Order of Merit, among numerous other awards.