Meny
  • It is 117 years today since Leslie Charteris was born.

    Leslie Charteris was born in colonial Singapore as Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin. His father, Suat Chuan Yin, was a wealthy physician and company manager who claimed he was related to an ancient Chinese imperial family. Charteris' mother, Lydia Florence Bowyer, was English. Young Leslie was educated at home and on the many journeys he made with his parents; he claimed to have toured the world three...

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  • It is 60 years today since Ferdinand von Schirach was born.

    Ferdinand von Schirach is a German lawyer and author born in Munich to a wealthy Protestant family. He grew up in Munich and Trossingen. When he was ten years old, he was enrolled at the St. Blasien Catholic boarding school where he passed his baccalaureate in 1984. Von Schirach later reported that these formative years had made it hard for him to believe in God.
    Von Schirach followed the...

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Sample of Authors

Portrait image of Deon Meyer

Meyer, Deon
1958 -

Deon Meyer is something of a rarity in that he is a South African crime writer who has had his crime novels, written in...

Further reading
Portrait of Alistair MacLean

MacLean, Alistair
1922 - 1987

The Scottish author Alistair Stuart MacLean was born in Shettleston, Glasgow, in a Gaelic-speaking family as Alasdair...

Further reading
Portrait of Joseph Wambaugh

Wambaugh, Joseph
1937 -

Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. is an American author and former detective sergeant. He is best known for his police...

Further reading
Portrait image of Mark Billingham

Billingham, Mark
1961 -

The British author Mark Philip David Billingham was born in Solihull, Warwickshire, and grew up near Birmingham where he...

Further reading