MacLean, Alistair (1922-1987), was a Scottish novelist who wrote stories of high adventure and intrigue. Nearly all of MacLean’s novels became best sellers and many were adapted into popular motion pictures, with MacLean writing the screenplays.
MacLean gained immediate fame with his first novel, H.M.S. Ulysses (1955), based on his experiences as a torpedo man in the Royal Navy during World War II (1939-1945). He solidified his reputation as an adventure writer with his next novel, The Guns of Navarone (1957). MacLean’s other novels include South by Java Head (1958), Ice Station Zebra (1963), Where Eagles Dare (1967), When Eight Bells Toll (1967), Bear Island (1971), Breakheart Pass (1974), Circus (1975), and Floodgate (1983). MacLean also wrote two mystery stories under the pen name of Ian Stuart.
Alistair Stuart MacLean was born on April 28, 1922, in Glasgow, Scotland, and was educated at Glasgow University, where he received an M.A. degree in 1953. He died on Feb. 2, 1987.
