Barry Hines

A Kestrel for a Knave

  • A Kestrel for a Knave

  • The classic book that inspired Kes, the famous film, now published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.

    Barry Hines's A Kestrel for a Knave was published in 1968, and was made into one of the key British films of the sixties. Billy Casper is beaten by his drunken brother, ignored by his mother and failing at school. He seems destined for a hard, miserable life down the pits, but for a brief time, he finds one pleasure in life: a wild kestrel that he has raised and tamed himself.

A Kestrel for a Knave
A Kestrel for a Knave
Barry Hines
Penguin Modern Classics

Penguin Modern Classics

1250 Books

Penguin Essentials

96 Books

Barry Hines was born in the mining village of Hoyland Common, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Educated at Eccelsfield Grammar School, Hines then worked as an apprentice mining surveyor and played football for Barnsley before studying Physical Education at Loughborough Training College. He taught for several years in London and Yorkshire before becoming a full-time writer. Hines has written 8 other novels and television scripts.

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