About J B Priestley
John Boynton Priestley was pre-eminently a dramatist and a novelist. Many of his works have become 20th century literary classics, among them 'The Good Companions', 'Angel Pavement', 'Lost Empires', 'When We are Married', 'An Inspector Calls' and 'Time and the Conways'. But he was undoubtedly the most versatile writer of his time, producing essays, short stories, verse, literary criticism, social histories, travel books and film scripts, as well as an opera libretto and an autobiography. He was also a practitioner in, and an enthusiast for, painting and music.
Away from the arts Priestley played many roles as a political activist and commentator; a campaigner for nuclear disarmament and public lending right; a cultural ambassador; and a student of time and of dreams. He once, memorably, became an actor in one of his own plays and stood as a Parliamentary candidate in the 1945 General Election. It may be argued that in literary, social and political terms he was very much 'a man for all seasons'.
Away from the arts Priestley played many roles as a political activist and commentator; a campaigner for nuclear disarmament and public lending right; a cultural ambassador; and a student of time and of dreams. He once, memorably, became an actor in one of his own plays and stood as a Parliamentary candidate in the 1945 General Election. It may be argued that in literary, social and political terms he was very much 'a man for all seasons'.
Novels
Adam in Moonshine (1927)
Benighted (1927)
Farthing Hall (1929) (with Hugh Walpole)
The Good Companions (1929)
Angel Pavement (1930)
Faraway (1932)
I'll Tell You Everything (1932) (with Gerald Bullett)
Wonder Hero (1933)
They Walk in the City (1936)
When We Were Married (1938)
The Doomsday Men (1938)
Let the People Sing (1939)
Black-Out in Gretley: A Story of--and for--Wartime (1942)
Daylight On Saturday (1944)
Three Men in New Suits (1945)
Bright Day (1946)
Jenny Villiers: A Story of The Theatre (1947)
Festival at Farbridge (1951)
The Magicians (1954)
Saturn Over the Water (1961)
The Shapes of Sleep (1962)
Lost Empires (1965)
Sir Michael and Sir George: A Comedy of the New Elizabethans (1966)
Salt is Leaving (1966)
It's An Old Country (1967)
Snoggle: A Story for anybody between 9 and 90 (1971)
The Happy Dream (1976)
Found, Lost, Found (1976)
Benighted (1927)
Farthing Hall (1929) (with Hugh Walpole)
The Good Companions (1929)
Angel Pavement (1930)
Faraway (1932)
I'll Tell You Everything (1932) (with Gerald Bullett)
Wonder Hero (1933)
They Walk in the City (1936)
When We Were Married (1938)
The Doomsday Men (1938)
Let the People Sing (1939)
Black-Out in Gretley: A Story of--and for--Wartime (1942)
Daylight On Saturday (1944)
Three Men in New Suits (1945)
Bright Day (1946)
Jenny Villiers: A Story of The Theatre (1947)
Festival at Farbridge (1951)
The Magicians (1954)
Saturn Over the Water (1961)
The Shapes of Sleep (1962)
Lost Empires (1965)
Sir Michael and Sir George: A Comedy of the New Elizabethans (1966)
Salt is Leaving (1966)
It's An Old Country (1967)
Snoggle: A Story for anybody between 9 and 90 (1971)
The Happy Dream (1976)
Found, Lost, Found (1976)
Omnibus
Collections
The Plays of J.B. Priestley - Volume II (1949)
The Plays of J.B. Priestley - Volume I (1949)
The Plays of J.B. Priestley - Volume III (1950)
The Other Place: And Other Stories of the Same Sort (1953)
The Carfitt Crisis: And Two Other Stories (1975)
The Plays of J.B. Priestley - Volume I (1949)
The Plays of J.B. Priestley - Volume III (1950)
The Other Place: And Other Stories of the Same Sort (1953)
The Carfitt Crisis: And Two Other Stories (1975)
Plays
Time and the Conways (1937)
I Have Been Here Before (1938)
Johnson over Jordan (1939)
The High Toby (1948)
An Inspector Calls (1948)
Dragon's Mouth (1952) (with Jacquetta Hawkes)
The 31st of June: A Tale of True Love, enterprise and Progress, in the Arthurian and Ad-Atomic Ages (1961)
I Have Been Here Before (1938)
Johnson over Jordan (1939)
The High Toby (1948)
An Inspector Calls (1948)
Dragon's Mouth (1952) (with Jacquetta Hawkes)
The 31st of June: A Tale of True Love, enterprise and Progress, in the Arthurian and Ad-Atomic Ages (1961)
Anthologies edited
The Book of Bodley Head Verse: Being a Selection of Poetry Published At the Bodley Head (1926)
Our Nation's Heritage (1939)
Bodley Head Leacock (1957)
My Six Favorite Plays (1978)
Our Nation's Heritage (1939)
Bodley Head Leacock (1957)
My Six Favorite Plays (1978)
Non fiction
Papers from Lilliput (1922)
I for One (1923)
Figures in Modern Literature (1924)
The English Comic Characters (1925)
George Meredith (1926)
Talking: Being one of a series of essays entitled These Diversions (1926)
Open House: a Book of Essays (1927)
English Humour (1929)
The Balconinny (1930)
English Journey: As Seen By One Man in 1933 (1934)
Essays of Today and Yesterday (1935)
Midnight On the Desert (1937)
Self-Selected Essays (1937)
Rain Upon Godshill (1938)
Postscripts (1940)
aka Britain Speaks
Out of the People (1941)
Britain Under Fire (1942)
Letter To A Returning Serviceman (1945)
Theatre Outlook (1947)
Delight (1949)
Low Notes on a High Level: A Frolic (1954)
Journey Down a Rainbow (1955) (with Jacquetta Hawkes)
The Art of the Dramatist (1957)
Thoughts in the Wilderness (1957)
The Wonderful World of the Theatre (1959)
Literature and Western Man (1960)
Charles Dickens and His World (1961) (see Charles Dickens)
Margin Released: A Writer's Reminiscences and Reflections. (1962)
Man and Time (1964)
Thomas Love Peacock (1966)
Trumpets Over the Sea (1968)
The Prince of Pleasure: And His Regency (1969)
The Edwardians (1970)
Victoria's Heyday (1972)
Over The Long High Wall: Some Reflections and Speculations on Life, Death and Time (1972)
The English (1973)
A Visit to New Zealand (1974)
Outcries and Asides (1974)
Particular Pleasures (1975)
Instead of the Trees (1977)
I for One (1923)
Figures in Modern Literature (1924)
The English Comic Characters (1925)
George Meredith (1926)
Talking: Being one of a series of essays entitled These Diversions (1926)
Open House: a Book of Essays (1927)
English Humour (1929)
The Balconinny (1930)
English Journey: As Seen By One Man in 1933 (1934)
Essays of Today and Yesterday (1935)
Midnight On the Desert (1937)
Self-Selected Essays (1937)
Rain Upon Godshill (1938)
Postscripts (1940)
aka Britain Speaks
Out of the People (1941)
Britain Under Fire (1942)
Letter To A Returning Serviceman (1945)
Theatre Outlook (1947)
Delight (1949)
Low Notes on a High Level: A Frolic (1954)
Journey Down a Rainbow (1955) (with Jacquetta Hawkes)
The Art of the Dramatist (1957)
Thoughts in the Wilderness (1957)
The Wonderful World of the Theatre (1959)
Literature and Western Man (1960)
Charles Dickens and His World (1961) (see Charles Dickens)
Margin Released: A Writer's Reminiscences and Reflections. (1962)
Man and Time (1964)
Thomas Love Peacock (1966)
Trumpets Over the Sea (1968)
The Prince of Pleasure: And His Regency (1969)
The Edwardians (1970)
Victoria's Heyday (1972)
Over The Long High Wall: Some Reflections and Speculations on Life, Death and Time (1972)
The English (1973)
A Visit to New Zealand (1974)
Outcries and Asides (1974)
Particular Pleasures (1975)
Instead of the Trees (1977)
Anthologies containing stories by J B Priestley
The Silver Ship (1932)
The Great Book of Humour (1935)
The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries (1936)
The Masque of the Red Death: And Other Tales of Horror (1964)
Medley Macabre (1966)
Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural (1968)
The 6th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1970)
Black Water (1983)
Realms of Darkness (1985)
Ghost Movies: Famous Supernatural Films (1995)
The Mammoth Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1998)
The Great Book of Humour (1935)
The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries (1936)
The Masque of the Red Death: And Other Tales of Horror (1964)
Medley Macabre (1966)
Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural (1968)
The 6th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1970)
Black Water (1983)
Realms of Darkness (1985)
Ghost Movies: Famous Supernatural Films (1995)
The Mammoth Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1998)
Short stories
| The Demon King | |||
| The Taxi and the Star | |||
| The Old Dark House (1929) | |||
| Mr Strenberry's Tale (1932) | |||
| The Grey Ones (1953) | |||
| Night Sequence (1953) | |||
| The Other Place [short story] (1953) |
Books about J B Priestley
J. B. Priestley (1978) by John Braine
J. B. Priestley (1979) by Dulcie Gray
J. B. Priestley (1988) by Vincent Brome
J. B. Priestley (1979) by Dulcie Gray
J. B. Priestley (1988) by Vincent Brome
J B Priestley recommends
Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1928) W Somerset Maugham "A fine narrative craft... an author who has always been completely, honestly himself." | Juan in America (1931) Eric Linklater "It is a magnificent frolic." | The Big Sleep (1939) (Philip Marlowe, book 1) Raymond Chandler "Mr Raymond Chandler seems to me the best American detective-story writer in the tough and tense Dashiell Hammett tradition." | |
The Best Short Stories of M P Shiel (1948) M P Shiel "If by genius we mean amazing ideas, flashes of real imagination, wild originality, then we must grant it him." |
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