Graham Greene (1904-1991), whose long life nearly spanned the length of the twentieth century, was one of its greatest novelists. Educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, he started his career as a sub-editor of
The Times of London. He began to attract notice as a novelist with his fourth book,
Orient Express, in 1932. In 1935, he trekked across northern Liberia, his first experience in Africa, recounted in
A Journey Without Maps (1936). He converted to Catholicism in 1926, an edifying decision, and reported on religious persecution in Mexico in 1938 in
The Lawless Roads, which served as a background for his famous
The Power and the Glory, one of several “Catholic” novels (
Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair). During the war he worked for the British secret service in Sierra Leone; afterward, he began wide-ranging travels as a journalist, which were 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 many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, two books of autobiography—
A Sort of Life and
Ways of Escape—two biographies, and four books for children. He also contributed hundreds of essays and film and book reviews to
The Spectator and other journals, many of which appear in the late collection
Reflections. Most of his novels have been filmed, including
The Third Man, which the author first wrote as a film treatment. Graham Greene was named Companion of Honour and received the Order of Merit among numerous other awards.
Michael Gorra is a professor of English at Smith College. His books include The Bells in Their Silence: Travels Through Germany and After Empire: Scott, Naipaul, Rushdie.
