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.

‘The most successful British novelist of his time’Jack Higgins‘A brilliant, overwhelming piece of descriptive writing.’Observer‘A story of exceptional courage which grips the imagination.’Daily Telegraph‘It deserves an honourable place among 20th-century war books.’Daily Mail‘HMS Ulysses is in the same class as The Cruel Sea.’Evening Standard