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H. E. Bates (1905–1974)

Author of Fair Stood the Wind for France

163+ Works 4,971 Members 92 Reviews 11 Favorited

About the Author

Disambiguation Notice:

H.E. Bates wrote his wartime propaganda stories for the RAF under the pseudonym "Flying Officer X"

Series

Works by H. E. Bates

The Darling Buds of May (1958) 471 copies
Love for Lydia (1952) 345 copies
The Purple Plain (1947) 233 copies
A Breath of French Air (1959) 233 copies
When the Green Woods Laugh (1960) 192 copies
Oh! To Be in England (1963) 179 copies
A Little of What You Fancy (1970) 139 copies
Feast of July (1954) 130 copies
The Jacaranda Tree (1949) 126 copies
The Pop Larkin Chronicles (1985) 112 copies
My Uncle Silas (1938) 91 copies
The Four Beauties (1968) 86 copies
The Scarlet Sword (1950) 82 copies
The Triple Echo (1970) 81 copies
The Wild Cherry Tree (1968) 75 copies
A Moment in Time (1964) 67 copies
Seven by Five (1963) 61 copies
The Sleepless Moon (1956) 60 copies
Through the Woods (1936) 57 copies
The Song of the Wren (1972) 49 copies
The Nature of Love (1953) 48 copies
The Grapes of Paradise (1820) 48 copies
Summertime [1955 film] (1955) — Screenwriter — 48 copies
Down the River (1937) 44 copies
Dulcima (1953) 35 copies
The Golden Oriole (1962) 33 copies
The Daffodil Sky (1955) 33 copies
A Tree Is For... (2010) 32 copies
In the Heart of the Country (1942) 29 copies
The Wedding Party (1965) 29 copies
The Fabulous Mrs. V. (1964) 29 copies
The Poacher (1935) 29 copies
An Aspidistra in Babylon (1960) 28 copies
Country Tales (1938) 23 copies
Death of a Huntsman (1957) 22 copies
Selected Stories (1957) 21 copies
The Distant Horns of Summer (1967) 21 copies
A Crown of Wild Myrtle (1962) 18 copies
Charlotte's Row (1931) 17 copies
Castle in the Air (2015) 16 copies
The Modern Short Story (1942) 15 copies
The Happy Countryman (1985) 14 copies
The Day of the Tortoise (1961) 14 copies
The Purple Plain [1954 film] (1954) — Writer — 14 copies
Flying Bombs Over England (1994) 13 copies
The Country of White Clover (1952) 12 copies
Sugar for the Horse (1957) 12 copies
Cut and Come Again (1935) 11 copies
Catherine Foster (1929) 11 copies
Day's End and Other Stories (1928) 10 copies
A House of Women (1936) 10 copies
Love of Flowers (1971) 9 copies
Achilles the Donkey (1962) 9 copies
Spella Ho (1938) 9 copies
The Fallow Land (1932) 9 copies
The Flying Goat (1939) 9 copies
The Face of England (1952) 8 copies
Dear Life (1949) 7 copies
The Two Sisters (1926) 7 copies
Country Life (1943) 7 copies
Edward Garnett (1950) 6 copies
Six Stories (1965) — Editor — 6 copies
Summer in Salandar (1957) 6 copies
Achilles and Diana (1963) 6 copies
Something Short and Sweet (1937) 6 copies
Achilles and the Twins (1964) 6 copies
Fountain of Flowers (1974) 5 copies
The Black Boxer Tales (1932) 5 copies
The Ripening World (1987) 5 copies
The Country Heart (1949) 4 copies
The White Admiral (1968) 4 copies
The Triple Echo [1972 film] (2019) — Author — 4 copies
Thirty-One Selected Tales (1947) 4 copies
The Tinkers of Elstow (1946) 3 copies
The Hessian Prisoner (1930) 3 copies
The Greater Omnibus of Private Books — Contributor — 2 copies
Thirty tales 2 copies
Twenty Tales (1961) 2 copies
A travers l'enfer (1944) 2 copies
Pastoral on Paper (1956) 2 copies
Seven Tales and Alexander (1929) 2 copies
The Day of Glory (1945) 2 copies
The Seekers (1926) 2 copies
Flowers and Faces (1935) 2 copies
Christmas 1930 (1930) 2 copies
De minnaar 1 copy
Short Stories (1975) 1 copy
The Kimono 1 copy
The Station 1 copy
Seven Tales (1996) 1 copy
Lost World of Fancy (1954) 1 copy
Why I Wrote that Book (1955) 1 copy
A Threshing Day (1931) 1 copy
Mrs. Esmond's Life (1931) 1 copy
The Last Bread (1926) 1 copy
The Duet (1935) 1 copy
The Lily 1 copy
Never 1 copy
L'aviateur anglais (2011) 1 copy
Kent is My County (1952) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Oxford Book of Short Stories (1981) — Contributor — 504 copies
The Oxford Book of English Short Stories (1998) — Contributor — 187 copies
The Fantastic Imagination (1977) — Contributor — 153 copies
Escape-or die: authentic stories of the R.A.F. Escaping Society (1952) — Introduction, some editions — 105 copies
The Treasury of English Short Stories (1985) — Contributor — 81 copies
British and American Short Stories (1960) — Contributor — 74 copies
The Mammoth Book of Fairy Tales (1997) — Contributor — 62 copies
Modern English Short Stories: Second Series (1911) — Contributor — 62 copies
Love Stories (1983) — Contributor — 60 copies
Modern Short Stories (1939) — Contributor — 47 copies
The Bedside Tales: A Gay Collection (1945) — Contributor — 43 copies
Modern English Short Stories (1939) — Contributor — 34 copies
The Saturday Evening Post Reader of Sea Stories (1962) — Contributor — 27 copies
Gentle Like a Cyclone: Stories of Horses and Their Riders (1974) — Contributor — 16 copies
Of Leaf and Flower: Stories and Poems for Gardeners (2001) — Contributor — 11 copies
The Lovers' Pocketbook (1954) — Introduction, some editions — 11 copies
A Month by the Lake [1995 film] (2003) — Original story — 11 copies
The Mating Game [1959 film] (2011) — Original book — 10 copies
England forteller : britiske og irske noveller (1970) — Contributor — 9 copies
Tall Short Stories (1960) — Contributor — 9 copies
Verhalen omnibus (1967) — Contributor — 7 copies
The Harrap Book of Modern Short Stories (1956) — Contributor — 7 copies
Snapshots (1995) — Contributor — 6 copies
Saturday Evening Post Stories 1958 (1959) — Contributor — 5 copies
Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology (1946) — Contributor — 5 copies
Thirteen Short Stories (1968) — Contributor — 5 copies
Dreamers of Dreams: An Anthology of Fantasy (1978) — Author — 4 copies
Modern Short Stories in English (Literature for Life) (1993) — Contributor — 3 copies
Short Fiction: Shape and Substance (1971) — Contributor — 3 copies
The Furnival book of short stories (1932) — Contributor — 3 copies
American Aphrodite (Volume One, Number Three) (1951) — Contributor — 3 copies
Daughters of Eve (1956) — Contributor — 3 copies
Love for Lydia [1977 TV mini series] — Based on the novel by — 2 copies
The Best British Short Stories of 1933 — Contributor, some editions — 2 copies
Let's Go Naked: Love and Life in a Nudist Camp (1952) — Contributor — 2 copies
American Aphrodite (Volume Four, Number Thirteen) (1954) — Contributor — 2 copies
Under the Sun [1998 film] (1998) — Original novel — 2 copies
Argosy (UK) [Vol. IV No. 5, June 1943] — Contributor — 1 copy
Missing From Their Homes — Contributor — 1 copy
Stories for girls — Contributor — 1 copy
Charles' Wain. A Miscellany Of Short Stories (1933) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

1950s (25) 20th century (68) anthology (172) British (61) British authors (103) British fiction (25) British literature (37) classic (33) classics (26) collection (26) DVD (19) eb (34) ebook (22) England (101) English (65) English literature (68) fairy tales (20) fantasy (65) fiction (1,012) Folio Society (35) France (33) general fiction (25) H. E. Bates (21) H.E.Bates (77) humor (141) literary fiction (23) literature (91) non-fiction (22) novel (122) paperback (21) penguin (27) read (41) romance (26) short stories (444) stories (31) to-read (106) UK (26) unread (34) war (27) WWII (123)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Bates, Herbert Ernest
Other names
Flying Officer X
Birthdate
1905-05-16
Date of death
1974-01-29
Burial location
Cremated
Gender
male
Nationality
UK
Birthplace
Rushden, Northamptonshire, England, UK
Place of death
Canterbury, Kent, England, UK
Places of residence
Rushden, Northamptonshire, England, UK
Little Chart, Kent, England, UK
Education
Kettering Grammar School, Northamptonshire, England, UK
Occupations
reporter
clerk
RAF propagandist
writer
Awards and honors
Order of the British Empire (Commander, 1973)
Disambiguation notice
H.E. Bates wrote his wartime propaganda stories for the RAF under the pseudonym "Flying Officer X"

Members

Reviews

I loved the Acorn TV series "The Larkins" which left me wanting more. So I found the books that the series are based on and was so happy to find them just as enjoyable. This book is a little different t from the show...as are all book adaptations. But Pop Larkin pulls you in and keeps you laughing as country life offers the Larkin Family. Country races, rolls royce adventures, and captivating and distracting "Charlie" the tax man from doing his job. A pure joy to read!
 
Flagged
bookescapest | 12 other reviews | Aug 8, 2023 |
Fair Stood the Wind For France by H. E. Bates is the story of a young English pilot, John Franklin, who, along with his 4 man crew, are forced to crash land in Occupied France in 1942. Franklin has a bad arm injury but they are taken in at a remote farm. The daughter, Francoise and Franklin have an immediate attraction to one another and rather than give himself up and get treatment, he allows the local doctor to remove his arm. Working with the Underground, papers are obtained for the 4 other Englishmen, but Franklin, due to his injury remains at the farm to heal.

Eventually he is well enough to attempt to escape and Francoise decides to be his guide and, in fact, to accompany him back to England so that they can be married. They manage to work their way into Vichy France and to Marseilles. When they learn that the Allies have landed in Algeria, they realize that the Germans will be taking over Vichy France and they need to get out quickly.

Although there were moments of very high tension, the story actually moved quite slowly with a lot of emphasis on the building relationship between the two young people. I have read H. E. Bates previously but only some of his humorous books like The Darling Buds of May, so I was quite surprised at the serious content and literary technique of the writing. The book was published in 1944 so is quite unusual in that it was unknown as to when or how the war would end. Fair Stood the Wind For France is a simple, poignant story that is delivered in a thoughtful and understated manner.
… (more)
 
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DeltaQueen50 | 10 other reviews | Jun 26, 2023 |
Another for me from the wonderful H.E. Bates and Uncle Silas is a great character! He’s the perfect scallywag, full of talk and very little action. He’ll argue a point til the cows come home rather than admit he’s wrong. Likes more than a drink or two - keep ‘em coming is how he likes it. I doubt you could get a better storyteller and - it’s all the honest truth mind! These short stories will make you laugh. Silas is impossible. He’ll drive you nuts but you’ll love him to bits. They don’t make ‘em like Silas anymore. Perfectly illustrated with sketches by Edward Ardizzone. Unfortunately I don't like this cover. I never do when it's a movie tie in.… (more)
 
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Fliss88 | 3 other reviews | Apr 15, 2023 |
A good writer can say so much with few words. This tiny book, only 90 pages long, packs quite a punch and the reason for the title is rather haunting when all is revealed. Fate brings two people together. Alice is a lonely woman, forced through circumstance to live and work alone on her farm, and Barton a homesick soldier. Barton is happier and less stressed spending time with Alice, helping run the farm, than struggling with the rigid relentlessness of army life. His decision to go AWOL, because of a growing affection between them has irreversible consequences. It was made into a film in 1972 staring Glenda Jackson. I haven’t seen it.… (more)
½
 
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Fliss88 | 1 other review | Apr 12, 2023 |

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Works
163
Also by
49
Members
4,971
Popularity
#5,040
Rating
3.9
Reviews
92
ISBNs
492
Languages
8
Favorited
11
Touchstones
183

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