Introduction Biography Addresses Portraits
Books Short stories Stage plays Film and TV Radio and audio
Quotations Settings Dedications Narrative style Canning in the OED Reading lists Articles on Canning
Centenary News Links Availability Copies for sale

The Victor Canning pages


Canning in 1938 with his dogs Polycarp and Abigail

These pages celebrate the work of Victor Canning (1911 - 1986), a writer of sixty-one books altogether, including one travel book, eighteen novels both comic and serious, four historical novels set in Roman and Arthurian Britain, three children's books, two short story collections (plus an abundance of other stories) and thirty-three thrillers, the best of which are some of the finest ever written in this genre.

Under Life is an introduction for new readers, a short biography, a list of the places where he lived, and a set of portraits.

Under Works you will find a full bibliography including his work for stage, film, TV and radio, with prefaces to all of the books and summaries of all the surviving short stories.

Under Background you will find a collection of brief quotations from Canning's books on a range of subjects and a list of the settings of the novels and stories. I have also created a page about citations from Canning's books in the Oxford English Dictionary, lists of the books he enjoyed himself and recommended to his sister, and a list of articles about Victor Canning, mostly from neswpapers..

Please click News, links and publications to see what is being discovered about the background to the books, where to find the books (updated May 2011), and plans for events to mark Canning's centenary in June 2011.

Please click on this link to find the Victor Canning page at Curtis Brown, the agency who look after the rights to his work.


Books by Victor Canning newly back in print



Newly published by Ostara Press in November 2010, Canning's masterpiece The Rainbird Pattern.

New edition by Arcturus Publishing of the first of the Rex Carver series The Whip Hand, July 2011.
New edn 2011
New edition of Canning's travel pieces Everyman's England, July 2011.
  Crippen and Landru
A new collection of Victor Canning short stories including the superb Minerva Club group.

All those below published by Lulu.com

Comedies and whimsies
Comedies and Whimsies; humorous short stories from newspapers and magazines.
Crime and detection
Crime and Detection, 36 stories from newspapers and magazines.
 
Italy and the Balkans
Italy and the Balkans, eleven stories and a novella set in the area where Canning served in WW2.
The Exotics
The Exotics; three novellas and nine short stories set in exotic locations

Mr Finchley discovers Mr. Finchley Discovers his England, Canning's very first book which became a runaway bestseller. Mr Finchley in Paris Mr Finchley Goes to Paris, in which Mr. Finchley falls in love.

 

Mr Finchley takes the road Mr. Finchley Takes the Road, in which Mr. Finchley travels through Kent in a horse-drawn caravan.

and writing as Alan Gould and as Julian Forest


Two men fought
Two Men Fought, the lifelong feud of two Cornishmen.

 

Mercy lane
Mercy Lane, a study of the effects of gossip, set in Faversham in Kent.

 

Sanctuary
Sanctuary from the Dragon, a Kent village's hostility towards outsiders.
The viaduct
The Viaduct, an engrossing historical novel about the building of the Calstock railway viaduct.
Every creature
Every Creature of God is Good, a penetrating study of the mind of a murderer, set in Somerset.
Atlantic Company
Atlantic Company, a thrilling story of survival after a U-boat attack.
The wooden angel
The Wooden Angel, a saga of five families, set in Plymouth.

 


and four companion volumes with background articles and indexes of characters, locations and themes


Mr Finchley companion Rex Carver companion Smiler companion Birdcage companion
  A Mr. Finchley Companion A Rex Carver Comapnion A 'Smiler' Companion A Birdcage Companion

The Centenary Quiz has closed. Congratulations to the only winner, Mike Kelly.

Site created by John Higgins, in June 2000, last updated 1 February 2012.