A second wonderful collection of Just William stories, selected and read by Martin Jarvis Richmal Crompton’s stories featuring irrepressible schoolboy William Brown have been firm favourites with both young and old for decades. Perpetually scruffy, mud-stained and mischievous, he is a lovable scamp whose pranks usually end in disaster – for his harassed elders at least. With friends Ginger, Douglas and Henry (the Outlaws) and the angelic thorn-in-his-side, the lisping Violet Elizabeth Bott, William has rightly joined the literary, and radio, immortals. The stories in this collection include: That Boy The Bishop’s Handkerchief William and Uncle George The Haunted House William and St Valentine April Fool’s Day Not Much The Cure William’s Wonderful Plan The Outlaws and the Penknife William the Reformer William’s New Year’s Day Aunt Florence and the Green Woodpecker The Plan that Failed William and the Begging Letter A Question of Exchange William and the Temporary History Teacher The Outlaws and the Tramp A Few Dogs and William The Outlaws and the Missionary William the Good William and the Young Man William and the Spy William and the Badminton Racket William Turns Over a New Leaf William and Dear Little Peter William and the Waxwork Prince William and the White Cat William and Photography The Great Detective The Fete - and Fortune The Weak Spot The Outlaws Go a-Mumming William's Double Life William to the Rescue William the Film Star William the Rat Lover William the Showman William And the Monster William The Persian The New Game William and the Love Nest The Cat And The Mouse Waste Paper Wanted William The Globe Trotter William And The Prize Pig A Present From William A Night Of Mysteries William and the Chinese God William and the League of Perfect Love Fireworks Strictly Prohibited William the Psychiatrist William Joins the Waits Violet Elizabeth Takes Control William – The Dear Little Boysie William’s Brilliant Plan The Outlaws and Aunt Jo Violet Elizabeth’s Special Party
Author
Richmal Crompton Lamburn was initially trained as a schoolmistress but later became a popular English writer, best known for her Just William series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books. Crompton's fiction centres around family and social life, dwelling on the constraints that they place on individuals while also nurturing them. This is best seen in her depiction of children as puzzled onlookers of society's ways. Nevertheless, the children, particularly William and his Outlaws, almost always emerge triumphant.
