Graham Greene famously classified some of his early novels as 'entertainments' whilst others had a higher literary aim. As I read primarily for entertainment, I couldn't help but be attracted to those books so designated - Stamboul Train, A Gun for Sale, Brighton Rock, The Confidential Agent, etc. Some of his best work would have to include the classic The Third Man, The Ministry of Fear, The Quiet American and Our Man in Havana. Although I've not read it, I gather It's a Battlefield is another good early novel. Greene himself distanced himself from most of his early work and was particularly harsh about two of his early novels (which haven't been reprinted). I can't say I've read all of his books but you probably won't find a duff book amongst any published between 1948 and 1969. He was, after all, a very good writer. I really can't speak for his later novels: Greene only published two novels in the 1970s and four in the 1980s and by then I was reading science fiction to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. When I picked up Greene's novels in the 1990s, I tended to pick out the older, orange pre-decimal Penguin editions with their intriguing Paul Hogarth covers and his later work has passed me by. I did, however, manage to dig out some cover images, which you'll find in tomorrow's part two. It's interesting to see how the covers evolved, particularly how Hogarth adapted elements of his early covers for later covers. I'm tempted to say that Hogarth's association with Greene's novels was the longest author/artist team on record, running from 1962 until at least 1986, long outlasting, say, the Josh Kirby/Terry Pratchett team (1984-2001). The Man Within. London, Heinemann, 1929; New York, Doubleday, 1929. Penguin Books 0140-03283-5, 1971, 221pp. Cover by Paul Hogarth ---- [xth imp.] 1977, 220pp. ---- [xth imp.] 1980. Vintage 0099-28615-7, 2001, 220pp. The Name of Action. London, Heinemann, 1930; New York, Doubleday, 1931. (no paperback edition) Rumour at Nightfall. London, Heinemann, 1931; New York, Doubleday, 1932. (no paperback edition) Stamboul Train. London, Heinemann, 1932; as Orient Express, New York, Doubleday, 1933. Guild Books 110, 1941, 191pp. Pan Books 220, 1952, 188pp. Penguin Books 1898, 1963, 221pp, 3/6. Cover by Paul Hogarth ---- [2nd imp.] 1964. as above Penguin Books 0140-18532-1 [xth imp.] 1975, *Twentieth-Century Classics ed. Peacock Books 0140-47108-1, 1977, 216pp. Vintage 0099-28612-2, 2001, 215pp. Vintage 0099-47936-6, 2004, xiii+197pp. It's a Battlefield. London, Heinemann, 1934; New York, Doubleday, 1934; revised edition, Heinemann, 1948; New York, Viking Press, 1962. Penguin Books 257, 1940, 214pp. Pan Books 242, 1953, 192pp. Penguin Books 0140-00257-X, 1971, 201pp. ----, [xth imp.] 1980, 201pp. *Twentieth-Century Classics ed. Vintage 0099-28222-4, 2002, 202pp. England Made Me. London, Heinemann, 1935; New York, Doubleday, 1935; as The Shipwrecked, New York, Viking Press, 1953. Penguin Books, 1943. ---- [2nd imp.] 1945. Pan Books 288, 1954. Cover by Sax Penguin Books 0140-03146-4, 1970, 206pp. Cover by Paul Hogarth ----[2nd imp.] 1973; [3rd imp.] 1973. ---- [4th imp.] 1974, 206pp, 40p. Cover: film still. Movie tie-in. ---- [?5th imp.] 1975. Movie tie-in. ---- [xth imp.] 1981. Vintage 0099-28617-3, 2001, 208pp. The Bear Fell Free. London, Grayson, 1935. (no paperback edition) A Gun for Sale. London, Heinemann, 1936; as This Gun for Hire, New York, Doubleday, 1936. Evergreen Books 14, 19140, 252pp. Penguin Books 1896, 1963 ---- [xth imp.] 1974 ---- [xth imp.] 1984 Penguin Books 0140-18540-2 [20th imp.] n.d. (1992?), 186pp, £6.99. Cover photo by Alvin Langdon *Twentieth-Century Classics Vintage 0099-28614-9, 2001, 186pp. Brighton Rock. London, Heinemann, 1938; as Brighton Rock: An Entertainment, New York, Viking Press, 1938. Penguin Books 442, 1943 ---- [2nd imp.] 1944 ---- [3rd imp.] 1948 ---- [4th imp.] 1950 ---- [5th imp.] 1951 ---- [6th imp.] 1952 ---- [7th imp.] 1954 ---- [8th imp.] 1956, 250pp, 2/6. Design ---- [9th imp.] 1957 ---- [10th imp.] 1960 ---- [11th imp.] 1961 ---- [12th imp.] 1962 ---- [13th imp.] 1963, 250pp, 3/6. Cover by Graham Byfield ---- [14th imp.] 1965 ---- [15th imp.] 1966 ---- [16th imp.] 1968 Penguin Books 0140-00442-4 [17th imp.] 1970 [reset and reprinted from Uniform Edition] ---- [18th imp.] 1970 ---- [19th imp.] 1971 ---- [20th imp.] 1971 ---- [21st imp.] 1972 ---- [22nd imp.] 1973 ---- [23th imp.] 1974. Cover design by Derek Birdsall ---- [24th imp.] ---- [25th imp.] 1975 [reset and reprinted from Collected Edition] ---- [26th imp.] 1975 ---- [27th imp.] 1976 ---- [28th imp.] 1976 ---- [29th imp.] 1977 ---- [30th imp.] 1978 ---- [31st imp.] 1979 ---- [32nd imp.] 1980 ---- [33rd imp.] 1981 ---- [34th imp.] 1983 ---- [35th imp.] 1983 ---- [36th imp.] 1984 ---- [37th imp.] 1985, 248pp. £2.50. ---- [38th imp.] ---- [39th imp.] ---- [40th imp.] ---- [41st imp.] ---- [42nd imp] Penguin Books 0140-27428-6, 1998? Penguin Books 0141-18244-X, 2000. *Twentieth-Century Classics Vintage 0099-47016-0, 2004, xiii+269pp. [introduction by J. M. Coetzee] Vintage 0099-47947-1, 2004, xiii+269pp. [trade pb?]. [introduction by J. M. Coetzee] Vintage 0099-54158-8, 2010. Movie tie-in. [introduction by J. M. Coetzee] The Confidential Agent. London, Heinemann, 1939; New York, Viking Press, 1939. Vanguard Library 23, 1954, 247pp. Penguin Books 1895, 1963, 206pp, 3/6. Cover by Paul Hogarth ---- [xth imp.] 1971. Cover by Paul Hogarth Penguin Books 0140-18538-0, 206pp. *Twentieth-Century Classics Vintage 0099-28619-X, 2002, xii+247pp. The Power and the Glory. London, Heinemann, 1940; as The Labyrinthine Ways, New York, Viking Press, 1940. Penguin Books 1791, 1962. Cover by Paul Hogarth ---- [2nd imp.] 1964, 222pp, 3/6. as above ---- [3rd imp.] 1965 ---- [4th imp.] 1967 ---- [5th imp.] 1967 ---- [6th imp.] 1968 ---- [7th imp.] 1969. Cover by Paul Hogarth Penguin Books 0140-01791-7 [xth imp.] 1971 , 222pp. ---- [xth imp.] 1977 ---- [xth imp.] 1980 Penguin Books 0140-18499-6, 1991, xii+222pp. *Twentieth-Century Classics Vintage 0099-28609-2, 2001, xii+222pp. The Ministry of Fear. London, Heinemann, 1943; New York, Viking Press, 1943. Penguin Books 1897, 1963, 237pp, 3/6. Cover by Paul Hogarth Penguin Books 0140-18536-4, 1974. Cover by Paul Hogarth ---- [xth imp.] Cover by Paul Hogarth Vintage 0099-28618-1, 2001, 220p. The Heart of the Matter. London, Heinemann, 1948; New York, Viking Press, 1948. Penguin Books 1789, 1962. Cover by Paul Hogarth ---- [2nd imp.] 1965, 264pp, 3/6. as above ---- [3rd imp.] 1966 ---- [4th imp.] 1968, 264pp, 4/-. Cover by Paul Hogarth ---- [5th imp.] 1969 ---- [6th imp.] 1969. Cover by Paul Hogarth Penguin Books 0140-01789-5 [xth imp.] 1971 ---- [xth imp.] 1977 Penguin Book 0140-27875-3, 1998? Vintage 0099-28606-8, 2001, 271pp. Vintage 0099-47842-0, 2004, xiv+255pp. [introduction by James Wood] More tomorrow.