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Dumas Alexandre
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a French writer renowned for his historical adventure stories, which have made him one of the most widely-read French authors in the world. Literary critics tend to dismiss his work, partly because of the sheer volume, but his novels have always been enormously popular and the huge number of film adaptions of his most famous works, including ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ and ‘The Three Musketeers’, demonstrate the lasting appeal of his classic adventures.
Doyle Conan Arthur Sir
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a Scottish physician and writer. His works encompass a wide variety of genres, and it was his historical novels that he considered his finest work. However, posterity remembers him only as the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Each new generation discovers Holmes afresh, as the current TV and film adaptations demonstrate. Doyle created a character so well known that he exists in the borderline between fiction and reality.
Dostoevsky Fyodor
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881) is a Russian novelist. Of his eleven novels, his three most famous were written later in life: ‘Crime and Punishment’, ‘The Idiot’ and ‘The Brothers Karamazov’. His books have been translated into over 170 languages, and have sold over 15 million copies.
Dickens Charles
When ‘The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club’, his first novel, was published, Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was just twenty-four. Published, like most of his books, in weekly instalments, it started him on a path to fame, wealth and international acclaim. Widely considered to be a literary genius second only to Shakespeare, Dickens’ works, such as ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’, remain as popular as ever.
Defoe Daniel
Born Daniel Foe in London in 1660, Defoe was a prodigious writer on many subjects, producing over 500 books, pamphlets and articles. He is now remembered for his novels, primarily ‘The Life and Strange Suprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York’ and ‘The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders’ and is considered to be one of the key figures in establishing the format of the English novel.
Davies David Stuart
David Stuart Davies (1946-2024), General Editor of Wordsworth’s Mystery and Supernatural series, was an editor, novelist, playwright and film historian.
Cooper James Fenimore
James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) was an American novelist who, at the height of his fame, was one of the world’s most widely read writers, and could claim to be America’s first popular novelist. Although no longer enjoying the same reputation of past times, his novels, ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ and ‘The Deerslayer’ are fine pieces of work.
Conrad Joseph
Born Jozef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski in Ukraine of Polish parents in 1857, Conrad served in the British Merchant Service (1878-94), travelling to Africa, Australia, India, Indonesia and the Orient, becoming a British citizen in 1886. Turning to full-time writing in 1894, his years at sea featured heavily in his early works. His novels, such as ‘Lord Jim’, and his novella ‘Heart of Darkness’ (on which the film ‘Apocalypse Now’ was based) have brought him an enduring reputation.
Collins Wilkie
“Make ’em cry, make ’em laugh, make ’em wait – exactly in that order.” William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was the leading sensational novelist of the Victorian era, and during the 1860s his novels, published in weekly instalments, equalled the popularity of the works of his friend Charles Dickens. With ‘The Woman in White’ and ‘The Moonstone’, he is credited with the creation of the detective story.