Greene possessed spirit and charm, character and plot, as well as boundless universal compassion, elements that place him forever in the ranks of the greats of world literature. John Le Carre

“No serious writer of this century has penetrated so deeply into the imagination of readers, nor shaped it more than Graham Greene.” -Time

The darkest creation of Graham Greene, The Third Man, ends with a gunfire exchange in the sewers of Vienna and the death of the penicillin con man Harry Lime. A convert to Catholicism, Greene found a fitting portrayal of man's decline in the grim underbelly of the city. And Lime, with his roguish amorality, is a recognizable Greene hero.

Vienna provided the author with the ideal setting for his story. Above all, The Third Man is an elegy for male friendship, betrayal, and futility.

The Fall of a Idol—one of Greene's finest stories—refers to a boy whose parents left him alone in a grand London mansion, in the care of Baines, the butler, and his jealous wife. The seven-year-old Philip wants to discover what lies in the dark basement where Mr. and Mrs. Baines reside, and begins a dangerous exploration of the adult world.

Philip is openly devoted to the butler and idealizes him almost as Rollo Martins had idealized Harry Lime. Until the detested Mrs. Baines is murdered by her unfaithful husband…

This volume brings together Greene's two texts that became great films by Carol Reed: The Third Man (1949) featuring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Alida Valli—a classic noir, moving with the conventions of thriller, with motifs reminiscent of German expressionism of the interwar period—as well as The Fall of a Idol (1948) featuring the stunning performance of Ralph Richardson—a "very British" film set in the claustrophobic interior of a wealthy London residence. The edition is accompanied by an introduction by Ian Thompson, forewords by Graham Greene for each story, and an afterword by Costas Kalpouzos.