Image for An inspector calls and other plays

An inspector calls and other plays

Part of the Penguin classics series
See all formats and editions

Previously published asTime and the Conways and Other Plays, J.B. Priestley'sAn Inspector Callsand Other Playscollects four groundbreaking works by a master playwright in Penguin Modern Classics.

An Inspector Calls, written at a time when society was undergoing sweeping transformations, has been produced as a successful film, and enjoyed repeated revivals since it was first produced in 1946. 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 ConwaysandI Have Been Here Beforebelong to Priestley's 'time' plays, in which he explores the idea of precognition and pits fate against free will.The Linden Treealso challenges preconceived ideas of history when Professor Linden comes into conflict with his family about how life should be lived after the war.

John Boynton Priestley (1894-1984) was born in Bradford, the son of a schoolmaster. On receiving an ex-officers' grant after the First World War, Priestley went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In 1922, after refusing several academic posts, he went to London, where he soon established a reputation as an essayist and critic. With his third and fourth novels,The Good Companions(1929) andAngel Pavement(1930), he found great success and established an international reputation. This was enlarged by the plays he wrote in the 1930s and 1940s, notablyDangerous Corner(1932),Time and the Conways(1937) andAn Inspector Calls(1945), which have been translated and produced all over the world.

If you enjoyedAn Inspector Calls, you might like Arthur Miller'sDeath of a Salesman, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'Priestley was volcanic, fertile ... [and] never dull'
Anthony Burgess,Observer

Read More
Available
£15.00
Add Line Customisation
Available on VLeBooks
Add to List
Product Details
Penguin
0141917113 / 9780141917115
eBook (EPUB)
822.912
29/03/2001
England
English
263 pages
Copy: 10%; print: 10%
Reprint. Description based on print version record. Originally published: 1969. Contents: Contents: Time and the Conways - I have been here before - An inspector calls - The linden tree.