Just William

Just William is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for numerous television series, films and radio adaptations. Just William is also sometimes used as a title for the series of books as a whole, and is also the name of various television, film and radio adaptations of the books. The William stories first appeared in Home magazine and Happy Mag.

Short stories

The book contains the following short stories:

Just William (book series)

The Just William series is a sequence of thirty-nine books written by English author Richmal Crompton. The books chronicle the adventures of the mischievous schoolboy William Brown.

Published over a period of almost fifty years, between 1921 and 1970, the series is notable for the fact that the protagonist remains at the same eleven years of age, despite each book being set in the era it was written in. The first book was Just William, and often the entire series is named after this book. Each book, with the exception of Just William's Luck, which was a novel, was a collection of short stories.

The series has spawned various television, film, theatre and radio adaptations. It also has a large fan following, with such groups as the Just William Society.

Synopsis of the series

Characters and setting

William Brown is an 11-year-old mischievous middle class schoolboy who lives in a country village in southern England. A number of guesses have been made about where the stories are set. In Pensions for Boys in Sweet William (1936), it is suggested that the village is about 50 miles from London. It has also been suggested (in Margarey Disher's book Growing Up with Just William) that it is situated somewhere around Bromley, Kent. A road sign shown in a Thomas Henry illustration from "William Gets A Move On" in "William Does His Bit" reads "London A1", which would place the village north of London.

Just William (radio series)

Just William is a 1990s BBC Radio series based on the Just William series of books by Richmal Crompton. They are produced by Pete Atkin and spoken by Martin Jarvis and have become one of the most well known adaptations of the books. The series has been released on Cassette and CD.

Releases

There are 6 full unabridged recordings of the original books. Total duration 28 hrs 30 mins, 61 stories:

There are 10 abridged story collections. Each collection is about 2.5 hours long and has 10 or 12 stories, with the total of 112 stories. Each story is 13 to 15 minutes long. There is also one "best of" collection available: