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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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J.B. Priestley
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(1894–1984) Novelist and playwright, born in Bradford and fond of projecting the image of a plain blunt Yorkshireman. He achieved very large sales with his first novel, The *Good Companions (1929), and in adapting it for the stage (1931) he began another successful career. Several of his early plays use narrative dislocations and tricks with time to good theatrical effect (Dangerous Corner 1932, I have been here before 1937, Time and the Conways 1937), but it is his moral mystery tale An Inspector Calls (1947) which has held the stage most effectively. In the darkest year of the war, 1940, Priestley began his famous radio broadcasts, 'Postscripts' after the news bulletin on Sunday evenings. His bluff commonsense, his strong voice, his humour, his very Englishness all contributed to bringing him a large and responsive audience.
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