THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**A TIMES BOOK OF THE SUMMER'Alan Bennett is our greatest living writer' Daily Mail'A legend of British letters' Financial Times'In an age of curated self-belief, his vulnerabilities feel refreshing, his reticence almost radical' The Times**20 September. Have a notion for a radio series - Awkward Conversations.Enoug...

NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING DAME MAGGIE SMITH'The first book that ever made me laugh out loud' Adam Kay'Utter genius' Daily MailIn 1974, the homeless Miss Shepherd moved her broken down van into Alan Bennett's garden. Deeply eccentric and stubborn to her bones, Miss Shepherd was not an easy tenant. And Bennett, despite inviting her in the first place, was a reluctant landlord. And yet she lived there for fifte...

The ebook edition of Alan Bennett's celebrated monologues'Alan Bennett's Talking Heads is pretty much the best thing ever.' David SedarisAlan Bennett sealed his reputation as the master of observation with Talking Heads, a series of twelve groundbreaking monologues, originally filmed for BBC Television, starring Patricia Routledge, Thora Hird, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Stephanie Cole, Eileen Atkins, Da...

Alan Bennett's classic story about Queen Elizabeth IIWhat would happen if the Queen became a reader of taste and discernment rather than of Dick Francis? The answer is a perfect story.The Uncommon Reader is none other than HM the Queen who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely ( JR Ackerley, Jean Genet, Ivy Compton Burnett and the classics) and intelligently. Her reading na...

An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. A maverick English teacher at odds with the young and shrewd supply teacher. A headmaster obsessed with results; a history teacher who thinks he's a fool.In Alan Bennett's new play, staff room rivalry and the anarchy of adolescence provoke insistent questions about history and how you teach it; about education and its purpose.The History Boys premièred at th...

*** Pre-order ENOUGH SAID, Alan Bennett's fourth collection of diaries and prose, now! Publishing March 2026 ***You don't have to believe it. I always took the Matthew Passion with a pinch of salt.Ramsden, Yorkshire, 1916. The ambitious local Choral Society is depleted as men volunteer for the front and plans for their St Matthew Passion by German composer J. S. Bach are scuppered by patriotic fervour. Dr Guthrie, the my...

*** Pre-order ENOUGH SAID, Alan Bennett's fourth collection of diaries and prose, now! Publishing March 2026 ***Killing Time is a wonderful surprise gift from Alan Bennett - a new story, set in a home for the elderly; a glorious, darkly comic treat.'A mini-masterpiece.' THE TIMES'Full of wit and style.' OBSERVER'A terrific cast of characters, and secrets and chaos aplenty.' iNEWS

Discover the Incredible True Story Behind the Major Motion Picture, Starring Maggie SmithFrom acclaimed author and playwright Alan Bennett, whose smash hit The History Boys won a Tony Award for Best Play, comes the screenplay of The Lady in the Van. This major motion picture adaptation stars Dame Maggie Smith in an unforgettable performance.The Lady in the Van is the remarkable true story of Bennett's experiences with an eccentric homeless woman, Miss Mary Sh...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2022'Sparklingly sardonic ... There really is no one like Bennett' Independent'Filled with elegiac memories and literary gossip ... a major National Treasure' Lynn Barber4 March. HMQ pictured in the paper at an investiture wearing gloves, presumably as a precaution against Coronavirus. But not just gloves; these are almost gauntlets. I ho...

Alan Bennett's first collection of prose since Writing Home takes in all his major writings over the last ten years. The title piece is a poignant family memoir with an account of the marriage of his parents, the lives and deaths of his aunts and the uncovering of a long-held family secret. Bennett, as always, is both amusing and poignant, whether he's discussing his modest childhood or his work with the likes of Maggie Smith, Thora Hird and John Gielgud. Also included are his muc...

'I seem to have banged on this year rather more than usual. I make no apology for that, nor am I nervous that it will it make a jot of difference. I shall still be thought to be kindly, cosy and essentially harmless. I am in the pigeon-hole marked 'no threat' and did I stab Judi Dench with a pitchfork I should still be a teddy bear.'Alan Bennett's third collection of prose Keeping On Keeping On follows in the footsteps of the phenomenally successful Writing Ho...

Already a bestseller, this is a wonderfully entertaining collection of Alan Bennett's prose writings. Writing Home brings together diaries, reminiscences and reviews to give us a unique and unforgettable portrait of one of England's leading playwrights. As a memoir it covers the production of his very first play, Forty Years On, which starred John Gieldgud. His television series 'Talking Heads' has become a modern-day classic; as part of the 1960s revue 'Beyond the Fringe...