Graham Greene

Graham Greene (1904–1991) was an English novelist, journalist, critic and screenwriter whose work explored political conflict, religious faith, betrayal and moral compromise. He worked for The Times, became literary editor of The Spectator and served with British intelligence during the Second World War. Although Greene rejected being described solely as a Catholic novelist, his conversion to Roman Catholicism strongly influenced books such as Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter and The End of the Affair.

Many of Greene’s novels were set amid contemporary political crises and drew upon his extensive travels through Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Quiet American examines colonialism and American involvement in Vietnam, The Comedians depicts dictatorship in Haiti, and Our Man in Havana satirises espionage in revolutionary Cuba. He also wrote the screenplay and novella The Third Man, set in divided post-war Vienna. His combination of suspense, international settings and morally conflicted characters made him one of the most influential British novelists of the twentieth century.