Thirty-One Selected Tales

London: Jonathan Cape, 1947 (June 9).

This compilation by Cape, issued shortly after Bates had moved to new publisher Michael Joseph, contains twenty-seven stories first published between 1937 and 1940, with only four chosen from earlier years (A German Idyll from 1932, For The Dead from 1933, The Irishman from 1934, and Millenium Also Ran from 1934). The bulk of the stories therefore were selected from three collections — Something Short and Sweet from 1937 (5 stories), The Flying Goatfrom 1939 (11 stories), and The Beauty of the Deadfrom 1940 (11 stories) — none of which is considered a strong collection.

Cape's previous compilations, Thirty Tales (1934) and Country Tales (1940) both culled from Bates's earliest output to the date of publication. Although no longer Bates's publisher, Cape would publish four subsequent compilations: The Bride Comes to Evensford and Other Tales (1949), Selected Short of H.E. Bates (1951), Twenty Tales (1951), and The Stories of Flying Officer 'X'(1952).

Contains: The Ox, Chateau Bougainvillaea, A German Idyll, For The Dead, Every Bullet Has Its Billet, The Irishman, Spring Snow, Millenium Also Ran, The Blind, Elephant's Nest in a Rhubarb Tree, The Dog and Mr. Morency, The Banjo, Fuchsia, The Man Who Loved Cats, Mister Livingstone, Something Short and Sweet, I Am Not Myself, The Wreath, The Machine, The Ship, The Beauty of the Dead, Mr. Penfold, The Bridge, The Ferry, The Loved One, Time to Kill, The Little Jeweller, Love is Not Love, The Earth, The White Pony, No Country.