J. B. Priestley
Encyclopedia
John Boynton Priestley, OM
(13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984), known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions
(1929), as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls
. His output included literary and social criticism.
, which he described as an "ultra-respectable" suburb of Bradford
.
His father was a headmaster. His mother died when he was still an infant and his father remarried four years later. Priestley was educated at Belle Vue Grammar School
, which he left at sixteen to work as a junior clerk at Helm & Co., a wool firm in the Swan Arcade
. During his years at Helm & Co. (1910–1914), he started writing at night and had articles published in local and London newspapers. He was to draw on memories of Bradford in many of the works he wrote after he had moved south, including Bright Day
and When We Are Married
. As an old man he deplored the destruction by developers of Victorian
buildings in Bradford such as the Swan Arcade, where he had his first job.
Priestley served during the First World War in the 10th Battalion, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment
. He was wounded in 1916 by mortar fire. In his autobiography, Margin Released he is fiercely critical of the British Army
and in particular of the officer class.
After his military service Priestley received a university education at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
. By the age of 30 he had established a reputation as a humorous writer and critic. His novel Benighted (1927) was adapted into the James Whale
film The Old Dark House
(1932); the novel has been published under the film's name in the United States
.
(1929), which earned him the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
for fiction and made him a national figure. His next novel, Angel Pavement
(1930), further established him as a successful novelist. However, some critics were less than complimentary about his work, and Priestley began legal action against Graham Greene
for what he took to be a defamatory portrait of him in the novel Stamboul Train
(1932).
In 1934 he published the travelogue English Journey
, which is an account of what he saw and heard while travelling through the country in the autumn of the previous year.
He moved into a new genre and became equally well known as a dramatist. Dangerous Corner
was the first of a series of plays that enthralled West End theatre
audiences. His best-known play is An Inspector Calls
(1945), later made into a film starring Alastair Sim
released in 1954. His plays are more varied in tone than the novels, several being influenced by J. W. Dunne's
theory of time, which plays a part in the plots of Dangerous Corner (1932) and Time and the Conways
(1937).
Many of his works have a socialist aspect. For example, An Inspector Calls, as well as being a "Time Play", contains many references to socialism
— the inspector was arguably an alter ego through which Priestley could express his views.
During World War II
, he was a regular broadcaster on the BBC. The Postscript, broadcast on Sunday night through 1940 and again in 1941, drew peak audiences of 16 million; only Churchill
was more popular with listeners. But his talks were cancelled. It was thought that this was the effect of complaints from Churchill that they were too left-wing; however, Priestley's son has recently revealed in a talk on the latest book being published about his father's life that it was in fact Churchill's Cabinet that brought about the cancellation by supplying negative reports on the broadcasts to Churchill.
Priestley chaired the 1941 Committee
, and in 1942 he was a co-founder of the socialist Common Wealth Party
. The political content of his broadcasts and his hopes of a new and different England after the war influenced the politics of the period and helped the Labour Party
gain its landslide victory in the 1945 general election
. Priestley himself, however, was distrustful of the state and dogma.
Priestley's name was on Orwell's list
, a list of people which George Orwell prepared in March 1949 for the Information Research Department
, a propaganda unit set up at the Foreign Office by the Labour government. Orwell considered these people to have pro-communist leanings and therefore to be inappropriate to write for the IRD.
He was a founding member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
in 1958.
In 1960, Priestley published Literature and Western Man, a 500-page survey of Western literature
in all its genres, including Russia
and the United States
but excluding Asia
, from the second half of the 15th century to the present (the last author discussed is Thomas Wolfe
).
Although Priestley never wrote a formal book of memoirs, his literary reminiscences, Margin Released (1962), provide valuable insights into his work. The section dealing with his job as a teenage clerk in a Bradford wool-sorter's office manages to weave fine literature from an outwardly unpromising subject – a characteristic of many of his novels.
His interest in the problem of time led him to publish an extended essay in 1964 under the title of Man and Time (Aldus published this as a companion to Carl Jung's Man and His Symbols
). In this book he explored in depth various theories and beliefs about time as well as his own research and unique conclusions, including an analysis of the phenomenon of precognitive dreaming, based in part on a broad sampling of experiences gathered from the British public, who responded enthusiastically to a televised appeal he made while being interviewed in 1963 on the BBC programme, Monitor. Priestley managed the treatment of this potentially esoteric subject matter with warmth and competence.
Priestley was one of the interviewees for the documentary series The World at War (1973), in the episode "Alone: May 1940 – May 1941". He declined lesser honours before accepting the Order of Merit
in 1977.
The University of Bradford
awarded Priestley the title of honorary Doctor of Letters
in 1970, and he was awarded the Freedom of the City
of Bradford in 1973. His connections with the city were also marked by the naming of the J. B. Priestley Library at the University of Bradford, which he officially opened in 1975, and by the larger-than-life statue of him, commissioned by the Bradford City Council after his death, and which now stands in front of the National Media Museum.
A special collector's edition of Bright Day was re-issued by Great Northern Books in 2006, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the publication of this novel.
, which was struggling to establish itself as a self-governing body after the withdrawal of Sir Thomas Beecham
. In 1949 the opera The Olympians
by Arthur Bliss
, to a libretto by Priestley, was premiered.
He married three times. In 1921 he married Emily "Pat" Tempest, a music-loving Bradford librarian. Two daughters were born in 1923 and 1924, but in 1925 his wife died of cancer. In September 1926, he married Jane Wyndham-Lewis (ex-wife of the original 'Beachcomber
' D. B. Wyndham-Lewis
, no relation to the artist Wyndham Lewis
); they had two daughters and one son. In 1953, he divorced his second wife and married the archaeologist and writer Jacquetta Hawkes
, his collaborator on the play Dragon's Mouth.
His play The Thirty-first of June was first produced in Toronto
in 1957.
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
(13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984), known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions
The Good Companions
The Good Companions is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley.Written in 1929 , it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party in England between World War I and World War II. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure...
(1929), as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls is a play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed in 1945 in the Soviet Union and 1946 in the UK. It is considered to be one of Priestley's best known works for the stage and one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre...
. His output included literary and social criticism.
Early years
Priestley was born at 34 Mannheim Road, ManninghamManningham, Bradford
Manningham is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, approximately a mile north of the city centre and is seen as the centre of the city's south Asian population.- Geography :...
, which he described as an "ultra-respectable" suburb of Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
.
His father was a headmaster. His mother died when he was still an infant and his father remarried four years later. Priestley was educated at Belle Vue Grammar School
Belle Vue Boys' School
Belle Vue Boys' School is a secondary school in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.-Admissions:The school motto, , means "Ask not what you can do for yourself but what you can do for the world". It is situated near the Hallmark Cards factory, not far from Bingley Road . It has a sixth form, like...
, which he left at sixteen to work as a junior clerk at Helm & Co., a wool firm in the Swan Arcade
Swan Arcade, Bradford
The Swan Arcade was a four-storey building located between Market Street and Broadway, Bradford, UK and stood opposite the Wool Exchange. The Bradford Beck ran beneath.- Architecture and history :...
. During his years at Helm & Co. (1910–1914), he started writing at night and had articles published in local and London newspapers. He was to draw on memories of Bradford in many of the works he wrote after he had moved south, including Bright Day
Bright Day
Bright Day is a novel by J. B. Priestley, first published in 1946. One of his better-known works, it combines nostalgia for the northern England that existed before the First World War with an optimism inspired by the conclusion of the Second....
and When We Are Married
When We Are Married
When We Are Married is a 1938 play by English dramatist, J. B. Priestley. It is the first play ever to be televised unedited from a theatre.-Productions:* 1938 World premiere, London, England* 16 November 1938 BBC live telecast...
. As an old man he deplored the destruction by developers of Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
buildings in Bradford such as the Swan Arcade, where he had his first job.
Priestley served during the First World War in the 10th Battalion, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment
Duke of Wellington's Regiment
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division.In 1702 Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he did in and around the city of Gloucester. As was the custom in those days...
. He was wounded in 1916 by mortar fire. In his autobiography, Margin Released he is fiercely critical of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and in particular of the officer class.
After his military service Priestley received a university education at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
. By the age of 30 he had established a reputation as a humorous writer and critic. His novel Benighted (1927) was adapted into the James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
film The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House is an American comedy horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein, also released by Universal Studios.-Background:...
(1932); the novel has been published under the film's name in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Career
Priestley's first major success came with a novel, The Good CompanionsThe Good Companions
The Good Companions is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley.Written in 1929 , it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party in England between World War I and World War II. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure...
(1929), which earned him the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for fiction and made him a national figure. His next novel, Angel Pavement
Angel Pavement
Angel Pavement is a novel by J. B. Priestley, published in 1930 after the enormous success of The Good Companions. It is often paired with English Journey ....
(1930), further established him as a successful novelist. However, some critics were less than complimentary about his work, and Priestley began legal action against Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
for what he took to be a defamatory portrait of him in the novel Stamboul Train
Stamboul Train
Stamboul Train is a novel by author Graham Greene. A thriller set on an Orient Express train, it was renamed Orient Express when it was published in the United States.-Plot introduction:...
(1932).
In 1934 he published the travelogue English Journey
English Journey
English Journey is a work of non-fiction by J.B. Priestley published in 1934.Commissioned by publisher Victor Gollancz to write a study of contemporary England, Priestley recounts his travels around England in 1933. He shares his observations on the social problems he witnesses, and appeals for...
, which is an account of what he saw and heard while travelling through the country in the autumn of the previous year.
He moved into a new genre and became equally well known as a dramatist. Dangerous Corner
Dangerous Corner
Dangerous Corner was the first play by the English writer J. B. Priestley. It was premiered in May 1932 by Tyrone Guthrie at the Lyric Theatre, London, and filmed in 1934 by Phil Rosen....
was the first of a series of plays that enthralled West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
audiences. His best-known play is An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls is a play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed in 1945 in the Soviet Union and 1946 in the UK. It is considered to be one of Priestley's best known works for the stage and one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre...
(1945), later made into a film starring Alastair Sim
Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who appeared in a string of classic British films. He is best remembered in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 film Scrooge, and for his portrayal of Miss Fritton, the headmistress in two St. Trinian's films...
released in 1954. His plays are more varied in tone than the novels, several being influenced by J. W. Dunne's
John William Dunne
John William Dunne FRAeS was an Anglo-Irish aeronautical engineer and author. In the field of parapsychology, he achieved a preeminence through his theories on dreams and authoring books preoccupied with the question of the nature of time...
theory of time, which plays a part in the plots of Dangerous Corner (1932) and Time and the Conways
Time and the Conways
Time and the Conways is a British play written by J. B. Priestley in 1937 illustrating J. W. Dunne's Theory Of Time through the experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of nineteen years from 1919 to 1937...
(1937).
Many of his works have a socialist aspect. For example, An Inspector Calls, as well as being a "Time Play", contains many references to socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
— the inspector was arguably an alter ego through which Priestley could express his views.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was a regular broadcaster on the BBC. The Postscript, broadcast on Sunday night through 1940 and again in 1941, drew peak audiences of 16 million; only Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
was more popular with listeners. But his talks were cancelled. It was thought that this was the effect of complaints from Churchill that they were too left-wing; however, Priestley's son has recently revealed in a talk on the latest book being published about his father's life that it was in fact Churchill's Cabinet that brought about the cancellation by supplying negative reports on the broadcasts to Churchill.
Priestley chaired the 1941 Committee
1941 Committee
The 1941 Committee was a group of British politicians, writers and other people of influence who got together in 1940. Its members comprised liberals, and those further left, who were not generally involved with a political party. Its immediate purpose was to press for more efficient production in...
, and in 1942 he was a co-founder of the socialist Common Wealth Party
Common Wealth Party
The Common Wealth Party was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom in the Second World War. Thereafter, it continued in being, essentially as a pressure group, until 1993.-The war years:...
. The political content of his broadcasts and his hopes of a new and different England after the war influenced the politics of the period and helped the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
gain its landslide victory in the 1945 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
. Priestley himself, however, was distrustful of the state and dogma.
Priestley's name was on Orwell's list
Orwell's list
Orwell's list, prepared in 1949 by the English author George Orwell, shortly before he died, comprises names of notable writers and other individuals he considered to be unsuitable as possible writers for the Information Research Department's anti-communist propaganda activities.-Background:The...
, a list of people which George Orwell prepared in March 1949 for the Information Research Department
Information Research Department
The Information Research Department, founded in 1948 by Christopher Mayhew MP, was a department of the British Foreign Office set up to counter Russian propaganda and infiltration, particularly amongst the western labour movement....
, a propaganda unit set up at the Foreign Office by the Labour government. Orwell considered these people to have pro-communist leanings and therefore to be inappropriate to write for the IRD.
He was a founding member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
in 1958.
In 1960, Priestley published Literature and Western Man, a 500-page survey of Western literature
Western literature
Western literature refers to the literature written in the languages of Europe, including the ones belonging to the Indo-European language family as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque, Hungarian, and so forth...
in all its genres, including Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
but excluding Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, from the second half of the 15th century to the present (the last author discussed is Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Clayton Wolfe was a major American novelist of the early 20th century.Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels, plus many short stories, dramatic works and novellas. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing...
).
Although Priestley never wrote a formal book of memoirs, his literary reminiscences, Margin Released (1962), provide valuable insights into his work. The section dealing with his job as a teenage clerk in a Bradford wool-sorter's office manages to weave fine literature from an outwardly unpromising subject – a characteristic of many of his novels.
His interest in the problem of time led him to publish an extended essay in 1964 under the title of Man and Time (Aldus published this as a companion to Carl Jung's Man and His Symbols
Man and His Symbols
Man and His Symbols is the last psychological work undertaken by Carl Jung before his death in 1961. First published in 1964, it is divided into five parts, four of which are written by associates of Jung: Joseph L. Henderson, Marie-Louise von Franz, Aniela Jaffé, and Jolande Jacobi...
). In this book he explored in depth various theories and beliefs about time as well as his own research and unique conclusions, including an analysis of the phenomenon of precognitive dreaming, based in part on a broad sampling of experiences gathered from the British public, who responded enthusiastically to a televised appeal he made while being interviewed in 1963 on the BBC programme, Monitor. Priestley managed the treatment of this potentially esoteric subject matter with warmth and competence.
Priestley was one of the interviewees for the documentary series The World at War (1973), in the episode "Alone: May 1940 – May 1941". He declined lesser honours before accepting the Order of Merit
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
in 1977.
The University of Bradford
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...
awarded Priestley the title of honorary Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
in 1970, and he was awarded the Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
of Bradford in 1973. His connections with the city were also marked by the naming of the J. B. Priestley Library at the University of Bradford, which he officially opened in 1975, and by the larger-than-life statue of him, commissioned by the Bradford City Council after his death, and which now stands in front of the National Media Museum.
A special collector's edition of Bright Day was re-issued by Great Northern Books in 2006, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the publication of this novel.
Personal life
Priestley had a deep love of classical music, and in 1941 he played an important part in organising and supporting a fund-raising campaign on behalf of the London Philharmonic OrchestraLondon Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
, which was struggling to establish itself as a self-governing body after the withdrawal of Sir Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
. In 1949 the opera The Olympians
The Olympians
The Olympians is an opera in three acts by Arthur Bliss to a libretto by J. B. Priestley, first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 29 September 1949, conducted by Karl Rankl in a production by Peter Brook....
by Arthur Bliss
Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO was an English composer and conductor.Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army...
, to a libretto by Priestley, was premiered.
He married three times. In 1921 he married Emily "Pat" Tempest, a music-loving Bradford librarian. Two daughters were born in 1923 and 1924, but in 1925 his wife died of cancer. In September 1926, he married Jane Wyndham-Lewis (ex-wife of the original 'Beachcomber
Beachcomber (Pen name)
Beachcomber was a nom de plume used by surrealist humorous columnists D. B. Wyndham-Lewis and, chiefly, J. B. Morton as authors of the Daily Express column "By the Way" in the period 1919-1975...
' D. B. Wyndham-Lewis
D. B. Wyndham-Lewis
Dominic Bevan Wyndham-Lewis FRSL was a British writer best known for his humorous contributions to newspapers and for biographies. His family were originally from Wales, but he was born in Liverpool and brought up in Cardiff...
, no relation to the artist Wyndham Lewis
Wyndham Lewis
Percy Wyndham Lewis was an English painter and author . He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art, and edited the literary magazine of the Vorticists, BLAST...
); they had two daughters and one son. In 1953, he divorced his second wife and married the archaeologist and writer Jacquetta Hawkes
Jacquetta Hawkes
Jacquetta Hawkes was a British archaeologist.Born Jessie Jacquetta Hopkins, the daughter of Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, she married first Christopher Hawkes, then an Assistant Keeper at the British Museum, in 1933. From 1953, she was married to J. B. Priestley...
, his collaborator on the play Dragon's Mouth.
Novels
- Adam in Moonshine (1927)
- Benighted (1928) (filmed as "The Old Dark House")
- The Good CompanionsThe Good CompanionsThe Good Companions is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley.Written in 1929 , it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party in England between World War I and World War II. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure...
(1929) - Angel PavementAngel PavementAngel Pavement is a novel by J. B. Priestley, published in 1930 after the enormous success of The Good Companions. It is often paired with English Journey ....
(1930) - Faraway (1932)
- Wonder Hero (1933)
- They Walk in the City (1936)
- The Doomsday Men (1937)
- Let the People SingLet the People Sing (novel)Let the People Sing is a 1939 comedy novel by the British writer J.B. Priestly. It examines civic politics and corruption in the small English town of Dunbury, where the music hall is due to be closed. It was adapted into a 1942 film Let the People Sing....
(1939) - Blackout in Gretley (1942)
- Daylight on Saturday (1943)
- Three Men in New Suits (1945)
- Bright DayBright DayBright Day is a novel by J. B. Priestley, first published in 1946. One of his better-known works, it combines nostalgia for the northern England that existed before the First World War with an optimism inspired by the conclusion of the Second....
(1946) - Jenny VilliersJenny VilliersJenny Villiers: a Story of the Theatre is a short novel by J. B. Priestley, first published in 1947.A successful but dispirited playwright is supervising the rehearsals of his new play, The Glass Door, at an old theatre in North England...
(1947) - Festival at Farbridge (1951)
- Low Notes on a High Level (1954)
- The MagiciansThe MagiciansThe Magicians is a short novel by J. B. Priestley, first published in 1954. An example of Priestley's perennial concern with the true nature of time, the story uses fantasy elements to discuss the midlife crisis of a successful industrialist, briefly touching on social problems and mass...
(1954) - Saturn over the Water (1961)
- The Thirty-First of June (1961)
- Salt Is Leaving (1961)
- The Shapes of Sleep (1962)
- Sir Michael and Sir George (1964)
- Lost Empires (1965)
- It's an Old Country (1967)
- The Image Men Vol. 1: Out of Town (1968)
- The Image Men Vol. 2: London End (1968)
- Found Lost Found (1976)
Other fiction
- Farthing Hall (1929) (Novel written in collaboration with Hugh WalpoleHugh WalpoleSir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large...
) - The Town Major of Miraucourt (1930) (Short story published in a limited edition of 525 copies)
- I'll Tell You Everything (1932) (Novel written in collaboration with Gerald BullettGerald BullettGerald William Bullett was a British man of letters. He was known as a novelist, essayist, short story writer, critic and poet. He wrote both supernatural fiction and some children's literature....
) - Albert Goes Through (1933) (Novelette)
- The Other PlaceThe Other Place (Priestley)The Other Place, subtitled "And Other Stories of the Same Sort", is a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by J. B. Priestly published in hardcover by Harper & Brothers and Heinemann in 1953...
(1952) (Short Stories) - Snoggle (1971) (Novel for children)
- The Carfitt Crisis (1975) (Two novellas and a short story)
Selected plays
- Dangerous CornerDangerous CornerDangerous Corner was the first play by the English writer J. B. Priestley. It was premiered in May 1932 by Tyrone Guthrie at the Lyric Theatre, London, and filmed in 1934 by Phil Rosen....
(1932) - Laburnum Grove (1933)
- Eden EndEden EndEden End is a play by J. B. Priestley, first produced by Irene Hentschel at the Duchess Theatre, London, on 13 September 1934.-Plot introduction:...
(1934) - Time and the ConwaysTime and the ConwaysTime and the Conways is a British play written by J. B. Priestley in 1937 illustrating J. W. Dunne's Theory Of Time through the experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of nineteen years from 1919 to 1937...
(1937) - I Have Been Here BeforeI Have Been Here BeforeI Have Been Here Before is a play by J. B. Priestley, first produced by Lewis Casson at the Royalty Theatre, London, on 22 September 1937.-Plot introduction:...
(1937) - When We Are MarriedWhen We Are MarriedWhen We Are Married is a 1938 play by English dramatist, J. B. Priestley. It is the first play ever to be televised unedited from a theatre.-Productions:* 1938 World premiere, London, England* 16 November 1938 BBC live telecast...
(1938) - Johnson Over JordanJohnson Over JordanJohnson Over Jordan is a play by J.B. Priestley.Johnson Over Jordan focuses on Robert Johnson, a meek businessman who has recently died. Now in limbo, Johnson looks back over his life while trying to reach the Inn at the End of World...
(1939) - The Long Mirror (1940)
- They Came to a City (1943)
- An Inspector CallsAn Inspector CallsAn Inspector Calls is a play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed in 1945 in the Soviet Union and 1946 in the UK. It is considered to be one of Priestley's best known works for the stage and one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre...
(1945) - The Linden Tree (1947)
- Last HolidayLast Holiday (1950 film)Last Holiday is a 1950 British film featuring Alec Guinness in his sixth starring role. The low-key, dark comedy was written by J. B. Priestley and directed by Henry Cass, featuring irony and wit often associated with Priestley....
(1950, wrote story, screenplay and produced the film)
His play The Thirty-first of June was first produced in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in 1957.
- The Thirty-first of June: A Tale of True Love, Enterprise and Progress in the Arthurian and AD-Atomic Ages
- - Novel. December 1961: Hardback; ISBN 0-434-60326-0 / ISBN 978-0-434-60326-8 (UK edition); Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
- - BBC radio dramatization; one and a half hours
- - Novel. 1996 : Paperback; ISBN 0-7493-2281-0 / ISBN 978-0-7493-2281-6 (UK edition); Publisher: Mandarin
- - 31 June (1978) (TV) Soviet film; aka 31 июня
Literary criticism
- The English Comic Characters (1925)
- Literature and Western Man (1960)
Social and political works
- English JourneyEnglish JourneyEnglish Journey is a work of non-fiction by J.B. Priestley published in 1934.Commissioned by publisher Victor Gollancz to write a study of contemporary England, Priestley recounts his travels around England in 1933. He shares his observations on the social problems he witnesses, and appeals for...
(1934) - The Arts under Socialism (1947)
Autobiography and essays
- Midnight on the Desert (1937)
- Journey Down a Rainbow (1955)
- Margin Released (1962)
See also
- An Experiment with TimeAn Experiment with TimeAn Experiment with Time is a long essay by the Irish aeronautical engineer J. W. Dunne on the subjects of precognition and the human experience of time. First published in March 1927, it was very widely read, and his ideas promoted by several other authors, in particular by J. B. Priestley. Other...
- CND
- J. B. Priestley's Time Plays
- J. W. Dunne
- Mary PriestleyMary PriestleyMary Priestley, a music therapist from Britain, is credited for development of Analytic Music Therapy, a synthesis of psychoanalytic theory and music therapy. Drawing on the theories of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Melanie Klein, analytic music therapy involves the use of musical improvisation to...
- Time and the ConwaysTime and the ConwaysTime and the Conways is a British play written by J. B. Priestley in 1937 illustrating J. W. Dunne's Theory Of Time through the experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of nineteen years from 1919 to 1937...
External links
- J.B. Priestley Society
- Brief biography
- J B Priestley collection at the University of Bradford
- J.B.Priestley in the Theatre Archive, University of Bristol
- John Angerson's English Journey. Photographer Angerson retraces J.B. Priestley's footsteps 75 years after publication of Priestley's seminal travelog, English Journey. Article by Graham Harrison for the Photo Histories web site.
- 1944 film of Priestley at work