Collins were rewarded when the book sold a quarter of a million copies in hardback in England in the first six months of publication. MacLean was paid with a large advance of $50,000, which made the headlines. I suppose it sounds cold blooded and calculated, but that's the way I did it. Most of the characters died, in fact only one survived the book, but when I came to the end the graph looked somewhat lopsided, there were too many people dying in the first, fifth and tenth chapters so I had to rewrite it, giving an even dying space throughout. I drew a cross square, lines down representing the characters, lines across representing chapters 1–15. MacLean later described his writing process, MacLean responded three months later with HMS Ulysses, based on his own war experiences, as well as credited insight from his brother Ian, a master mariner. The wife of Ian Chapman, editor at the publishing company Collins, had been particularly moved by "Dileas" and the Chapmans arranged to meet with MacLean, suggesting he write a novel. He sold stories to the Daily Mirror and The Evening News. Whilst a university student MacLean began writing short stories for extra income, winning a competition in 1954 with the maritime story "Dileas". He graduated in 1953, briefly worked as a hospital porter, and then worked as a schoolteacher at Gallowflat School (now Stonelaw High School) in Rutherglen. He lived with his mother at 26 Carrington Street, at St Georges Cross, Glasgow while attending the University. He then studied English at the University of Glasgow, working at the Post Office and as a street sweeper. MacLean was discharged from the Royal Navy in 1946. After the Japanese surrender, Royalist helped evacuate liberated POWs from Changi Prison in Singapore. (MacLean's late-in-life claims that he was captured by the Japanese after blowing up bridges, and tortured by having his teeth pulled out, have been dismissed by both his son and his biographer as drunken ravings).
In 1945, in the Far East theatre, MacLean and Royalist saw action escorting carrier groups in operations against Japanese targets in Burma, Malaya, and Sumatra. During this time MacLean may have been injured in a gunnery practice accident. In 1944 he and Royalist served in the Mediterranean theatre, as part of the invasion of southern France and in helping to sink blockade runners off Crete and bombard Milos in the Aegean. He took part in Convoy PQ 17 on Royalist.
There he saw action in 1943 in the Atlantic theatre, on two Arctic convoys and escorting aircraft carrier groups in operations against Tirpitz and other targets off the Norwegian coast. Beginning in 1943, he served on HMS Royalist, a Dido-class light cruiser. He was first assigned to PS Bournemouth Queen, a converted excursion ship fitted for anti-aircraft guns, on duty off the coasts of England and Scotland. In 1941, at the age of 19, he was called up to fight in the Second World War with the Royal Navy, serving with the ranks of Ordinary Seaman, Able Seaman, and Leading Torpedo Operator. He learned English as a second language after his mother tongue, Scottish Gaelic. He was born on 21 April 1922 in Shettleston, Glasgow, the third of four sons of a Church of Scotland minister, but spent much of his childhood and youth in Daviot, 10 miles (16 km) south of Inverness. Critics deplored his cardboard characters and vapid females, but readers loved his combination of hot macho action, wartime commando sagas, and exotic settings that included Greek Islands and Alaskan oil fields." Īlistair Stuart Maclean was descended from Clan Maclean. Īccording to one obituary, "he never lost his love for the sea, his talent for portraying good Brits against bad Germans, or his penchant for high melodrama. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time. He also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His works include The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra and Where Eagles Dare – all three were made into popular films.
Alistair Stuart MacLean ( Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair MacGill-Eain 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a 20th century Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories.
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