Fools, Knaves and Heroes: Great Political Short Stories

by Jeffrey Archer (Introduction), Simon Bainbridge (Editor)

Jeffrey Archer, one of the world’s most popular writers of literary thrillers, has, with the help of Simon Bainbridge, put together a collection of his favorite stories about the denizens of the political jungle. Among the authors represented in this volume are Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, James Thurber, Kingsley Amis, Jack London, James Joyce, and Jeffrey Archer himself. The category of “political short story” is a deliberately loose one, for not many writers have hands-on experience of the world of politics. The authors here might have described their stories as being about people, rather than politics. And so the collection is wonderfully diverse, ranging from Joyce’s evocation of tarnished ideals and a fallen hero in “Ivy Day in the Committee Room” to Jack London’s vivid fantasy of a general strike across the United States in “The Dream of Debs,” to Mark Twain’s dark satire of the venality of political life in “The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg.” If there are few genuine heroes in the stories Mr. Archer has selected, perhaps that is an accurate reflection of the real world. In any case, this generally dark view of politics has a silver lining: for as readers of Milton’s Paradise Lost discovered long ago, the doings of a charismatic villain make for more interesting reading than the deeds of a virtuous man.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Jeffrey is published in 114 countries and more than 47 languages, with more than 750,000 5* reviews with international sales passing 275 million copies.

He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (nineteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries).

Jeffrey has been married for 53 years to Dame Mary Archer DBE. They have two sons, William and James, three grandsons and two granddaughters, and divide their time between homes in London, Cambridge and Mallorca.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

BOTTOM-LINE:
Interesting collection, but uneven
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
This is a collection of short political stories from various famous authors dating back to the 1800s.
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WHAT I LIKED:
The best story of the collection is by Mark Twain, entitled The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (an interesting story of greed that corrupts an uncorruptible town, prompted by a man wronged by the town). James Thurber's story, The Greatest Man in the World, is a slightly different take on flying arond the world, as a man flies non-stop while the media and public scramble to meet him and the government tries to hide the fact that his character isn't that great. L.E. Jones' story, The Bishop's Aunt, focuses on occupied Eastern Europe during the war and questions of sacrifice, faith, martyrdom, and strategy. And Jeffrey Archer's own story, The Coup, has two business rivals stranded in Nigeria during a coup, and having to resolve their differences.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Three stories were good, but not as good as the rest. Charles Dickens story, The Election for Beadle, tells the tale of an election for church Beadle, and two men fighting to elect their choice. Rudyard Kipling's tale of The Village that Voted the Earth Was Flat has a fight between a man and his buddies against a town that had a speed trap set to catch speeders. Finally, Saki's tale of Ministers of Grace is a really strange tale of turning political animals into actual animals, and letting angels take their place.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the authors, nor do I follow them on social media.

[Abby Zinman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly pretty meh, a lot of the stories were really boring. I enjoyed "The Dream of Debs," which is what I got the book for (a story about what the world would look like if there were a general strike) - was pretty good and was a good time to read it. But otherwise, could have probably done without this one.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the Jeffrey Archer short story and a couple of the others - the rest are all by older authors.

[Garry Marlton · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me the worst book I have read by Jeffrey Archer but as I have enjoyed the other 31 books I can't complain really. I think I did not enjoy because the short stories were by other people and did not flow.

[Abhiram R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best J.A I've read.