Herbert Ernest Bates, CBE was widely recognised as one of the finest short story writers of his generation, with more than 20 story collections published in his lifetime. However, it should not be overlooked that he also wrote some outstanding novels, starting with The Two Sisters through to A Moment in Time, with such works as Love For Lydia, Fair Stood the Wind for France and The Scarlet Sword earning high praise from the critics. His study of the Modern Short Story is considered one of the best ever written on the subject.

He was born in Rushden, Northants, and educated at Kettering Grammar School. After leaving school, he was briefly a newspaper reporter and a warehouse clerk, but his heart was always in writing and his dream to be able to make a living by his pen.
Many of his stories depict life in the rural Midlands of England, particularly his native Northamptonshire. Bates was partial to taking long midnight walks around the Northamptonshire countryside - and this often provided the inspiration for his stories. Bates was a great lover of the countryside and its people and this is exemplified in two volumes of essays entitled Through the Woods and Down the River.

In 1931, he married Madge Cox, his sweetheart from the next road in his native Rushden. They moved to the village of Little Chart in Kent and bought an old granary and this together with an acre of garden they converted into a home. It was in this phase of his life that he found the inspiration for the Larkins series of novels --The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Green Woods Laugh, etc--and the Uncle Silas tales. Not surprisingly, these novels inspired television series that were immensely popular.

His collection of stories written while serving in the RAF in wartime, published as The Stories of Flying Officer X, deserve particular attention.
Bates was influenced by Chekhov in particular, and his knowledge of the history of the short story is obvious