Alistair MacLean was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. He joined the Navy in 1941 and served in the Home, Mediterranean, and Eastern Fleets. After the war, he graduated in Arts at Glasgow University and became a teacher. In his spare time he wrote short stories, one of which won a prize in a Glasgow Herald competition. He was at once approached by Collins and shortly after delivered to them the manuscript of his first novel, H.M.S. Ulysses, a brilliant novel about the war at sea.
Since that first success, Mr MacLean wrote many other best-sellers, such as The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, When Eight Bells Toll, Force Ten from Navarone, Puppet on a Chain, Caravan to Vaccares, and Bear Island, nearly all of which have been made into immensely successful films.
Alistair MacLean, the son of a minister, was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 he joined the Royal Navy. After the war he read English at Glasgow University and became a teacher. Two and a half years spent aboard a wartime cruiser gave him the background for HMS Ulysses, his remarkably successful first novel, published in 1955. He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century, the author of 29 worldwide bestsellers, many of which have been filmed.
