Scruffy, exuberant, incorrigible, William Brown has been a hero for children - and adults - for generations. Richmal Crompton created William Brown just over 70 years ago as a pot-boiler, but his instant and enduring success kept her writing about him for five decades, creating around him a vivid world of events, relationships and places with wonderfully engaging, obnoxious or eccentric characters. The "William" stories occupy 38 books; "The William Companion" provides an A-Z of characters, themes and background to the whole saga. The plots and incidents from many of the stories are described with atmospheric and amusing studies of hundreds of characters. The book will guide readers old and new through the highways and byways of Richmal Crompton's stories. Mary Cadogan co-authored with Pat Craig, "You're A Brick, Angela".