Alistair MacLean

Chris Willis (London Metropolitan University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 28 Apr 1922
Died 2 Feb 1987
Activity 1954-1987

Places

Born in Scotland
Active in England; Scotland; Switzerland

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Resources

MacLean's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Bestselling writer Alistair MacLean always insisted that he was a storyteller rather than a novelist. He wrote fast-moving, exciting action adventures, disdaining what he called the “sex, sadism and snobbery” of the Ian Fleming school of writing.

MacLean was born on 28 April 1922 in Shettleston, Glasgow. His father (also named Alistair MacLean) was a Church of Scotland minister who wrote books of Christian meditations. The family spoke Gaelic, and MacLean did not learn English until he was seven. Maclean's father and oldest brother both died while MacLean was still at school, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1941 the 18-year-old MacLean joined the Royal Navy, where he served on the Arctic convoys. His wartime experiences were to provide valuable material for his

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2744 words

Citation: Willis, Chris. "Alistair MacLean". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5066, accessed 27 November 2024.]