The fourth of six children, Henry Graham Greene was born on 2 October 1904 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. His father, Charles Henry Greene, was an Oxford graduate who ranked Robert Browning as his favorite poet and chess as his favorite pastime. His mother, Marion Raymond Greene, was an aloof woman who kept an emotional distance from her children. Greene shared his early childhood years with his paternal uncle and aunt and their six children, the “wealthy Greenes” as he referred to them, who resided in the Hall at Berkhamsted from 1910 until about 1926. His uncle’s house was important to him for a second reason, for it was here that Greene first discovered the pleasure of reading, most notably Dixon Brett, Dete

This article in full comprises 2505 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.