Graham Greene parents, Charles Henry Greene and Marion Raymond Greene, were first cousins, both members of a large, influential family that included the owners of Greene King Brewery, bankers, and statesmen; his mother was cousin to Robert Louis Stevenson. Charles Greene was second master at Berkhamsted School, where the headmaster was Dr Thomas Fry, who was married to Charles' cousin. Another cousin was the right-wing pacifist Ben Greene, whose politics led to his internment during World War II. In his childhood, Greene spent his summers with his uncle, Sir William, at Harston House in Cambridgeshire. In Greene's description of his childhood, he
Graham Greene as one of the finest writers of his generation. As his career lengthened, both Greene and his readers found the distinction between entertainments and novels increasingly problematic. The last book Greene termed an entertainment was "Our Man in Havana" in 1958. Greene also wrote short stories and plays, which were well received, although he was always first and foremost a novelist. His first play, "The Living Room", debuted in 1953. Michael Korda, a lifelong friend of Greene and later his editor at Simon & Schuster, once observed Greene at work. Korda observed that Greene wrote in a small black leather