The stories in this text, all written between 1929 and 1954, share the themes that feature so strongly in Graham Greene's novels; humour and violence, pity and hatred, betrayal and pursuit.

Anthony Farrant has always found his way, lying to get jobs and borrowing money to get by when he leaves them in a hurry. His twin sister Kate persuades him to move and sets him up with a job as a bodyguard to Krogh, which has drastic results.

For Arthur Rowe, the charity fair was a trip back to childhood, to innocence, a welcome chance to escape the terror of the Blitz, to forget twenty years of his past and a murder.

Once a lecturer in medieval French, now a confidential agent, D is a scarred stranger in a seemingly casual England, sent on a mission to buy coal at any price. Initially, this seems to be a matter of straightforward negotiation, but soon, implicated in murder, accused of possessing false documents and theft, D becomes a hunted man.

The Third Man is Greene's brilliant recreation of post-war Vienna. Rollo Martins, a second-rate novelist, arrives penniless to visit his friend and hero, Harry Lime. But Harry has died in suspicious circumstances, and the police are closing in on his associates.

The Fallen Idol is the chilling story of a small boy caught up in the games adults play. Left in the care of the butler and his wife while his parents go on holiday, Philip realizes too late the danger of lies and deceit. But the truth is even deadlier.

Doctor Fischer despises the human race. The notorious toothpaste millionaire decides to hold the last of his famous parties.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)Graham Greene's passion for moral complexity and his stylistic aplomb were perfectly suited to the cat-and mouse game of the spy novel, a genre he practically invented and to which he periodically returned while fashioning one of the twentieth century's longest, most triumphant literary careers. Written late in his life, "The Human Factor" displays his gift for suspense at its most refined level, and his understanding of the physical and spiritual vulnerability of the individual at its deepest.

Centenary edition with an introduction by Christopher Hitchens: a gripping spy thriller, which unfolds aboard the majestic Orient Express as it crosses Europe from Ostend to Constantinople, weaving a web of subterfuge, murder, politics and passion along the way.

The centenary edition with a new introduction by Paul Theroux: three men meet on a ship bound for Haiti. Hiding behind their actors' masks, they hesitate on the edge of life -- afraid of love, afraid of pain, afraid of fear itself.

This story tells of Charley Fortnum, the 'Honorary Consul', a whisky-sodden figure of dubious authority kidnapped by a group of revolutionaries. As local doctor, Eduardo Plarr, negotiates for Fortnum's release, their corruption becomes evident.