The deeds and misdeeds of Uncle Silas, the rural reprobate, were renowned in the short stories H E Bates published in the 1930s. In this collection, the stories are presented in full, accompanied by the original drawings by Edward Ardizzone that perfectly capture the little reed-thatched house atop a violet-banked lane. Over the course of ninety-five years, Uncle Silas found the time to do most things: he boasted of the villains he had knocked to kingdom come as he boasted of the women whose hearts he had truly captured. Crotchety, vainglorious, occasionally wicked, he maintained a devilish spark of audacity which made him so attractive to everyone he met.