An Inspector Calls, first produced in 1946 when society was undergoing sweeping transformations, has recently enjoyed an enormously successful revival. While holding its audience with the gripping tension of a detective thriller, it is also a philosophical play about social conscience and the crumbling of middle class values. Time and the Conways and I Have Been Here Before belong to Priestley’s ‘time’plays, in which he explores the idea of precognition and pits fate against free will. The Linden Tree also challenges preconceived ideas of history when Professor Linden comes into conflict with his family about how life should be lived after the war.

"Two hours ago a young woman died in the Infirmary...she'd swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant. Burnt her inside out..." Arthur Birling, a prosperous manufacturer, is holding a family dinner party to celebrate his daughter's engagement. Into this cosy scene intrudes the harsh figure of a police inspector investigating the suicide of a young working-class woman. Under interrogation, every member of the family turns out to have a shameful secret which links them with her death. Schools edition of An Inspector Calls For students aged 14-16 Suitable for students studying for GCSE English Literature qualifications from Pearson Edexcel, AQA, OCR and Eduqas The Heinemann Plays series offers contemporary drama and classic plays in durable classroom editions. "An excellent, easy to use edition of a modern classic. Arrived promptly ready for the start of the new term; could not fault the product or service." E Hughes, English Teacher at Abertillery Comprehensive 15 July 2014

‘An exquisitely-written, generous, funny, thoughtful book about the everyday joys of being alive. I love it.’ Dolly Alderton ‘J. B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th Century and it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.’ Dame Judi Dench ‘My apology, my little bit of penitence, for having grumbled so much, for having darkened the breakfast table, almost ruined the lunch, nearly silence the dinner party, for all the fretting and chafing, grousing and croaking, for the old glum look and the thrust-out lower lip. So my long-suffering kinsfolk, my patient friends, may a glimmer of that delight which has so often possessed me, but perhaps too frequently in secret, now reach you from these pages.’ There are times when there doesn’t seem much to smile about. And for those times, there is this book. J. B Priestley’s 1949 classic teaches us that joy may be found in even the simplest things, and that we all have the capacity to appreciate them. Delight comprises a series of short essays, all focussing on a single simple pleasure, from reading detective stories in bed to smoking a pipe in the bath; from ‘Cosy planning’ to the earliest summer mornings; and from mineral water in the bedrooms of foreign hotels to the smell of bacon in the morning. Combining poignant memories of his childhood with glimpses of his interior world, panoramas of life abroad with thoughts about writing, music, theatre – some strictly personal, some universal –this highly readable book bursts with humour and literary flare on every page.

‘The finest book ever written about England and the English’ Stuart Maconie ‘J. B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th Century and it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.’ Dame Judi Dench Three years before George Orwell made his expedition to the far and frozen North in The Road to Wigan Pier, celebrated writer and broadcaster JB Priestley cast his net wider, in a book subtitled ‘a Rambling but Truthful Account of What One Man Saw and Heard and Felt and Thought During a Journey Through England During the Autumn of the Year 1933.’ Appearing first in 1934, it was a huge and immediate success. Today, it still stands as a timeless classic: warm-hearted, intensely patriotic and profound. An account of his journey through England – from Southampton to the Black Country, to the North East and Newcastle, to Norwich and home – English Journey is funny and tender. But it is also a forensic reading of a changing England and a call to arms as passionate as anything in Orwell’s bleak masterpiece. Moreover, it both captured and catalysed the public mood of its time. In capturing and describing an English landscape and people hitherto unseen, writing scathingly about vested interests and underlining the dignity of working people, Priestley influenced the thinking and attitudes of an entire generation and helped formulate a public consensus for change that led to the birth of the welfare state. Prophetic and as relevant today as it was nearly ninety years ago, English Journey is an elegant and readable love letter to a country Priestley finds unfathomable.

Charles Dickens was one of the great chroniclers of London life. From the colourful chaos of dances and gin-shops to the sparse destitution of the pawnshop and the penitentiary, he captured the grime and the glory of the English capital with singular brilliance.

Orphans and beggars, lord mayors and murderers, actors, criminals, cab drivers and prostitutes; all rub shoulders in this wonderful selection from Sketches by Boz.

Chosen and introduced by the playwright J. B. Priestley, these thirteen marvellous sketches are accompanied by George Cruikshank’s evocative illustrations.

Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

The full story in quick modern English for a fast-paced read. A respectable household is shocked when a strange man visits them shortly after dinner and proceeds to unravel their prejudices and lies.

The classic novel brought to life in full colour. A respectable household is shocked when a strange man visits them shortly after dinner and proceeds to unravel their prejudices and lies.

Angel Pavement is one of the great London novels. First published in 1930, it is a social panorama of the city of London seen largely through the eyes of the employees of the firm Twigg & Dersingham, on the first floor of No. 8, Angel Pavement (a small cul-de-sac in the heart of London's commercial district). Angel Pavement provides readers with a vivid picture of ordinary London life before the war and the blitz changed everything dramatically and is set against the background of the great depression. The story centres on the arrival of a mysterious Mr. Golspie from the Baltic region. Business at the firm has been struggling but Mr. Golspie looks set to change its fortunes. His arrival turns life upside down for everyone connected with the firm, but all is not what it seems with Mr. Golspie...

In the months before the First World War, Richard Herncastle joins his Uncle's illusionist act on the Music Hall stage where he comes into contact with larger than life, garish and outrageous characters. Both funny and sad, Lost Empires tells of a young man's awakening to the world of love and sex, and is also a richly coloured portrait of a dying world of theatre and of lives and a society that the Great War would soon change irrevocably. Received with rave reviews when first published in 1965, this Priestley classic was later made into a major television series starring Colin Firth. Priestley delivers a captivating and authentic snapshot of a fascinating period in theatre history whilst creating a social drama with believable and absorbing characterisation.

Disillusioned scriptwriter Gregory Dawson is holed up in a Cornish hotel writing a script he must finish. A chance encounter in the bar sends him back in time to the doomed world of his youth before the slaughter of The First World War. Caught in his own past Dawson recounts his time within the closeknit Yorkshire community in which he came of age and the magic circle of the Alington family, in whose company he spent his happiest days. As this forgotten time takes on a new shape he slowly realises that to have any chance of a bright future he must first exorcise the tragic ghost of his past. ADDITIONAL CONTENT This new edition provides additional information about Priestley's background and his inspiration for the novel. It includes biographical detail which incorporates a `literary tour' of Bruddersford (the imaginary setting for the book based on Priestley's home town of Bradford.) In this way, it places the novel in a biographical and geographical context adding extra layers of interest for readers. In the author's own words, `Bright Day is crammed with profoundly autobiographical material.' Priestley's Bradford comes alive and glows.

Available for the first time in the United States a new series of innovative critical studies introducing writers and their contexts to a wide range of readers. Drawing upon the mast recent thinking in English studies, each book considers biographical material, examines recent criticism, includes a detailed bibliography, and offers a concise but challenging reappraisal of a writer's major work. Published in the U. K. by Northcote House in association with The British Council.

Originally published in 1925, this book contains the edited diary of Tom Moore, the Irish songwriter and close friend of Lord Byron. Priestley's selection of Moore's diary entries focuses mostly on Moore's golden period prior to his decline into ill health and personal tragedy. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Irish poetry or eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British artistic history.

Priestley defined the essay as a 'prose masterpiece in miniature' and understood that to perfect the form, the essayist had to stand 'naked and shivering' in the very first sentence. A prodigious essayist, Priestley expressed his unique thoughts on a diverse range of subjects from the delights of smoking to the futility of conferences. Witty, controversial and sometimes grumpy, Priestley's essays reveal the many faces of one of Britain's most distinguished writers.

A quirky satirical comedy from 1954 by one of the twentieth century's most prolific, influential and versatile writers. The world's greatest composer, Stannsen of Norroland has completed his Tenth Symphony and to coincide with the official visit of Norroland's President to Britain he has offered the honour of its world premiere to the English Broadcasting Company Symphony Orchestra, and its outlandish and moderately-talented principal conductor, Sir Lancelot Telly. The Royal Festival Hall is booked, Royalty is invited, there is a heatwave of publicity, but there is a huge problem: Stannsen's score includes a part for a seven-foot-high instrument called the Dobbophone, invented and played by his former best friend Dobb. The two men have fallen out and Stannsen hopes his symphony will reconcile them. Dobb refuses to participate and without him there can be no performance. There is panic and dismay at the E.B.C., not least for Sir Lancelot who sees his chance of fame slipping away from him. Enter the beautiful Inga Dobb, niece of the instrument's inventor and goddaughter of Stannsen who will attempt to break the deadlock between the two men and reunite them as friends. Will she succeed? Will the performance go ahead? Will Sir Lancelot conduct this great symphony? Demonstrating Priestley's love of music along with his playfulness and versatility as a writer, this zany and at times anarchic romp satirises the contemporary world of broadcast media, its avant-garde playwrights and poets, its philistine administrators and its inane panel games and their too receptive audiences. As our national broadcaster comes in for ever increasing scrutiny, this is very much a novel for today.

The Birling family are spending a happy evening celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft - a marriage that will result in the merging of two successful local businesses. Yet just when everything seems to be going so well, they receive a surprise visit from an Inspector Goole who is investigating the suicide of a young girl. As the Inspector reveals more about the circumstances that led to the death of Eva Smith, each member of the family comes under the spotlight, and questions of guilt and responsibility are raised... Toby Jones, David Calder, Frances Barber and Morven Christie are amongst the cast in this BBC Radio 4 production from 2010. The Classic Radio Theatre range presents notable radio productions of much-loved plays by some of the most renowned playwrights, and starring some of our finest actors. 2 CDs. 1 hr 30 mins.