Alistair MacLean Books

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Alistair Maclean was a Scottish author that wrote adventure stories. People loved his exotic settings and action-packed narratives, and they proved that love by buying his books en masse. Having sold over a hundred and fifty million copies of his books, Maclean is one of the most successful authors in publishing history.

He was born in Shettleston, Glasgow, in 1922 to a church minister, one of four sons. Even though he spoke English and Gaelic, his parents did not permit the author to speak English at home.
The family lived in Daviot for several years. When his father died (Cerebral Hemorrhage), they moved back to Glasgow. The author attended Hillhead High School, where he acquired his Higher Leaving Certificate.

At 18, he secured a place in the Royal Navy before going off to fight in the Second World War. His time on the northern convoy routes to Murmansk was highly educational because it gave Maclean experiences that informed his writing.

Maclean, who once suggested that the Japanese had caught and tortured him, attended Glasgow University after coming back home, acquiring an English degree.

When he first started writing, Maclean was driven by a desire to make extra money. He wrote a short story for a Glasgow Herald competition that netted the author one hundred pounds.

The short story won the judges over because of Maclean’s incredible descriptions of the force of the sea. Once publications like the Daily Mirror started publishing his short stories, Ian Chapman, wife to the editor of Collins, a publishing company, reached out and connected Maclean to her husband.

The Chapmans thought that Maclean had the skill and experience to write a novel, and they told him as much. The author listened, writing ‘HMS Ulysses’ within three months.

Collins gave the author a $50,000 advance as his reward, an investment that paid off when 250,000 copies of Maclean’s book sold within the first six months. The author’s subsequent books continued the trend of using Maclean’s experiences to tell war stories, and they all won the adoration of the public.

Determined to prove that the success of his novels was tied to the quality of his storytelling as opposed to his name, Maclean wrote and published spy thrillers like ‘The Dark Crusader’ using the ‘Ian Stuart pen name. Surprisingly, the books were a hit because the author made no effort to change his writing style.

Eventually, he retired and became a hotelier. Maclean argued that he only wrote to make money. The activity never brought him joy. But Elliot Kastner, a cinema producer, coerced him out of retirement by offering the author the opportunity to write screenplays.

Alistair Maclean Books into Movies

Most of Maclean’s novels received adaptations, including ‘The Guns of Navarone,’ ‘Fear is the Key,’ and ‘The Satan Bug.’ The only significant exception is ‘HMS Ulysses.’ People tried to turn the book into a movie, but they failed.

Best Alistair Maclean Books

The author had a stroke, dying in 1987 at 64. Maclean’s best books include:

Where Eagles Dare: A unit of British Special Forces commandos had a difficult task ahead. Their target was the Nazi Intelligence HQ. But it was located in the peaks of the Austrian Alps, accessible via aerial gondola. The alpine castle was supposedly invulnerable, but the team was determined to succeed.

They had to rescue one of their own, or so they thought. Their true mission was far more complicated.

The Guns of Navarone: 1200 British soldiers were trapped on an island. Soon, the Axis Alliance would descend, and they would perish. Their last hope was a suicide mission to destroy the Guns of Navarone.

Keith Mallory was leading the charge. To reach the guns, they had to overcome natural as well as man-made barriers. Fortunately, Keith was a renowned rock climber that had a reputation for overcoming difficult odds.

Standing by his side was Andreas, a Greek resistance fighter and his good luck charm; Stevens, a proficient, multilingual climber; Miller, a demolitions expert; and Brown, who excelled at sabotage.

They had a tight widow: three days to destroy the guns before the British fleet entered the Aegean Channel to protect the English soldiers. But the closer they get to the guns, the more perilous the conditions become.

When Does The Next Alistair MacLean book come out?

Alistair MacLean doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is South by Java Head and was released on May, 1st 2012.

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