"The Destructors" was initially published in a British photo-journalism magazine called "Picture Post". It was commonly considered to be Britain's answer to "Life" magazine. Graham Greene, one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, was more famous for his novels than his short stories, although he had actually spent much of his early career in journalism, first writing for the Nottingham Journal before becoming deputy editor of The Times.
In terms of plot and narrative, "The Destructors" tells the story of a gang of teen boys in post-war London who cause trouble playing essentially harmless pranks until a new boy, Trevor, joins them, and devises far more destructive and nihilistic "pranks" that are not really pranks at all; under Trevor's leadership the boys gut the home of Mr Thomas, destroying everything that he has for no particular reason at all, and setting light to the money that he keeps stuffed into his mattress.
Greene collected his short stories into a collection titled "Twenty-One Stories", of which "The Destructors" has become the most famous. Eighteen of the stories were already published in a previous collection titled "Nineteen Stories."
"The End Of The Party" was written in 1929, and is a very English version of a gothic horror novel. focusing on two nine-year-old identical twins who have different personalities, Francis' anxiety disorder becoming exacerbated by becoming lost during an innocent game of hide and go seek.
"Proof Positive" introduces us to the local psychical society who invite a local guest speaker, Michael Weaver, to talk to them; he brings with him proof positive that the spirit doesn't die when the body does. He suffers a strange physical reaction in front of his audience, who quickly realize that he has been dead for a week already before coming to talk to them.
Two of the short stories, "The Basement Room', written in 1936, and "Across The Bridge" written in 1939, were adapted into films during the 1950s.
"The Case For The Defence" tells the story of a criminal case known as the Peckham Murder. Mrs Parker, an older woman, was murdered in the middle of the night by a man named Mr Adams, in front of several witnesses.
"The Blue Film', written in 1954, is a short story set in Thailand, which was later adapted for a television series "Shades Of Greene", starring Koo Stark and Brian Cox.
