Guns of Navarone

Alistair MacLean, the son of a Scots 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 schoolmaster. The two and a half years he spent aboard a wartime cruiser were to give 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. He died in 1987.

‘The most successful British novelist of his time’Jack Higgins‘Could hardly be bettered.’Sunday Times‘Its strength comes from the speed of its narrative, its vivid creation of tensions and its power in handling descriptions of action.’Evening Standard‘Action sustained at a high pitch. From the outset there is a feeling of suspense: a problem that can only be solved by action involving danger and demanding courage … an insistently gripping tale.’Scotsman