Richmal Crompton

Author

Richmal Crompton was a beloved English author best known for creating William Brown, the mischievous, anarchic schoolboy hero of the Just William series, one of the longest-running and most popular children's series in British publishing history. Born Richmal Crompton Lamburn in Bury, Lancashire, in 1890, she studied Classics at Royal... Holloway College, University of London, and taught at a girls' school until polio forced her to leave teaching in 1923. Crompton published thirty-nine Just William books between 1922 and 1970, following the adventures of the eleven-year-old William and his gang of Outlaws as they scheme, misbehave, and create chaos in their middle-class village. The character of Just Jimmy (William's younger counterpart in some stories) shares the same anarchic spirit. Though marketed at children, the books were equally popular with adults for their sharp social satire and their affectionate skewering of English suburban life. Beyond William, Crompton wrote over forty novels for adults, though these are now largely forgotten. She died in 1969. Her audiobooks and books have delighted generations of listeners and readers with their timeless comedy, proving that a well-intentioned child with a talent for destruction never goes out of style. Read more Show less