Novels:

[--The novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century's greatest writers of action and suspense -- an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II. The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater, HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside Herman Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny" (1951) and Nicholas Monsarrat's "The Cruel Sea" (1951) as one of the classic novels of the navy at war. It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk -- a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance, crippled by enemy attack and the bitter cold of the Arctic.
--the story of a convoy in the North Atlantic which battles German submarines.]

[serial segment publication (in 8 parts): 1956 September 22, 29, October (6*), 13, 20, 27, November 3, 10 in 'The Saturday Evening Post']

[*set: Turkey, & small island Navarone in the Aegean Sea (World War II)]
[--The classic World War II thriller from the acclaimed master of action and suspense. Twelve hundred British soldiers isolated on the small island of Kheros off the Turkish coast, waiting to die. Twelve hundred lives in jeopardy, lives that could be saved if only the guns could be silenced. The guns of Navarone, vigilant, savage and catastrophically accurate. Navarone itself, grim bastion of narrow straits manned by a mixed garrison of Germans and Italians, an apparently impregnable iron fortress. To Captain Keith Mallory, skilled saboteur, trained mountaineer, fell the task of leading the small party detailed to scale the vast, impossible precipice of Navarone and to blow up the guns. The Guns of Navarone is the story of that mission, the tale of a calculated risk taken in the time of war...
--The book concerns the efforts of an Allied commando team to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress that threatens Allied naval ships in the Aegean Sea, and prevents 2,000 isolated British troops from being rescued. Three principal characters — New Zealand mountaineer-turned-commando Captain Keith Mallory, American demolitions expert Corporal "Dusty" Miller, and Greek resistance fighter Andrea — are among the most fully drawn in all of MacLean's work. A five men sabotage team sent to destroy two giant guns at Navarone.]

[serial segment publication (parts 3, 4 of  ?): 1958 March 1, 8, ... in  'John Bull']

[*set: ship, South China Sea (World War II, 1942) . *thriller fiction: Japanese Conquest,  Refugees, Counterespionage. *fictitious character: Constance Plenderleith,  Miss Drachmann, Van Effen, brigadier Foster Farnholme]
[--"February, 1942: Singapore lay burning and shattered, defenseless before the conquering hordes of Japanese, as the last boat slipped out of the harbor into the South China Sea. On board were a desperate group of people, each with a secret to guard, each willing to kill to keep that secret safe. Who or what was the dissolute Englishman, Farnholme? The elegant Dutch planter, Van Effen? The strangely beautiful Eurasian girl, Gurdun? The slave trader, Siran? The smiling and silent Nicholson who was never without his gun? Only one thing was certain: The rotting tramp steamer was a floating death trap, carrying a cargo of human TNT."]

[serial segment publication (part 3 of  ?): 1959 March 7, ... in  'John Bull']

[*set: Hungary. *thriller fiction: Espionage Agencies, Secret Police, Scientist Defection, Andrassy Ut, Hungarian AVO. *fictitious character: Harold Jennings, Michael Reynolds]
[--"Winters are silent in Budapest, silent and dark, and behind some door in some ancient street Harold Jennings, the brilliant British scientist, sat rehearsing a speech denouncing his own country. The Communists intended to use Jennings' speech as the propaganda coup of the decade. The British were equally determined that it should never be delivered. Michael Reynolds, Britain's top agent, was given the impossible assignment-enter Hungary, kidnap Dr. Jennings and return him to the free world; and this, Reynolds decided, was roughly like trying to find an invisible needle in a burning haystack."]

[serial segment publication (in 8 parts): 1960 February 20, 27, March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9 in 'The Saturday Evening Post']

[*set: Greenland, Arctic. *thriller fiction: Espionage Mystery, Plane Crash, Hypothermia, Arctic Survival. *fictitious character: Peter Mason]
[--"Seconds ago the passengers were sitting in the cozy security of their pressurized cabin with a controlled temperature of 70. Then the crash, the tearing, jagged screeching as the plane ripped along the ice and snow. The tidal wave of the dreadful cold, 40 degrees below zero, swept in and engulfed the survivors - the dazed, the injured, the unconscious and the dying - as they sat in the crumpled wreckage of their seats, wearing only thin suits and dresses. And so began the terrible arctic night, a night without end, where the darkness would bring with it murder and betrayal and cowardice. And the chilling knowledge that among them was a ruthless agent determined to carry out his desperate mission."]

[*set: Fiji, Polynesia. *thriller fiction: Cold War thriller. *fictitious character: Marie & John Bentall]
[----Meet John Bentall .. When you get to know this tough, diffident guy who's honest enough to admit his mistakes you'll stay with him to the end. And with the beautiful girl who's posing as his wife. Together they embark on a 'honeymoon' voyage which turns out to be a series of disasters. They're dumped on a remote Polynesian island where, isolated and in acute danger, they have to pit their wits against a brilliant brain; a brain backed by sadistic Chinese henchmen. Slowly the terrible meaning of The Dark Crusader comes to light.
--Research Scientists needed for rocket project overseas. Top priority work. Highest salaries. Box 141. Eight famous scientists answered this ad. Eight left England for Australia. None arrived or were heard from again. The ninth who answered was Bentall, complete with a scientific cover and a girl named Marie, a secret agent like himself. From the moment they were kidnapped at gunpoint from their Fiji hotel, they were plunged into a fantastic plot for world domination, played out on a secret missile site on a remote Polynesian island.
--Introducing John Bentall, Secret Agent. This title is MacLean's attempt at a James Bond-style thriller and bears all the hallmarks of the genre; exotic locations, beautiful girls, with daring knifefights, a criminal masterbrain, backed by sadistic Chinese henchmen. 'Eight top scientists had already disappeared without trace....']

[magazine publication (in 4 parts): 1961 September - December in 'Argosy' (UK)]

[*set: Florida. *thriller fiction: Underwater Treasure, Oil Derricks, Bathyscaphes, Salvage Diving. *fictitious character: John Talbot]
[--A classic thriller by Alistair MacLean that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Finder Keepers. "With the exception of the British frigate "De Braak", sunk in a storm off the coast of Delaware in 1798, it was the biggest underwater treasure in the Western Hemisphere: Ten million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in gold ingots, emeralds and uncut diamonds, locked in the fuselage of a DC-3, lying half-buried on the ocean floor and guarded by the remains of two men, one woman and a very small boy. The fortune was there for the taking, and ready to grab it were a blue-blooded oilman with his own offshore rig, a hood so cold and independent that even the Mafia couldn't do business with him and a psychopathic hired assassin. Against them stood one man, and those were his people, those skeletons in their watery coffin. His name was Talbot, and he would bury his dead-but only after he had avenged their murders."]

[*set: London. *thriller fiction: Cold War thriller.]
[--To the outside world the Mordon labs existed solely for experiments in preventative medicine . . . but in reality they were secret laboratories for the devlopment of germ warfare. The most carefully hidden secret was the Satan bug - a strain of toxin so deadly that the the release of one teaspoon could annihilate mankind. Late one night, the Mordon chief security officer was found murdered outside that lab. And the Satan Bug was missing...
--A thriller of unusual force and originality.  A novel of germ warfare with a killer strain gone missing from a laboratory.
--Mordon Research Centre is surrounded by 15ft fences and protected by armed guards, Dobermann Pinschers and high-voltage wire - the only way in is through the front gate. How has someone managed then, to gain entry, kill a scientist and steal a deadly new toxin?]

[*set: ship, Caribbean Sea. *fictitious character: Johnny Carter]
[--A timeless classic from the acclaimed master of action and suspense. Aboard the SS Campari, all is not well. For Johnny Carter, the Chief Officer, the voyage has already begun badly; but it's only when the Campari sails that evening, after a succession of delays that he realizes something is seriously wrong. A member of the crew is suddenly missing and the stern-to-stern search only serves to increase tension. Then violence erupts and suddenly the whole ship is in danger. Is the Campari a victim of modern day piracy? And what of the strange cargo hidden below the decks?
--Caribbean luxury cruise explodes in violence, as modern--day pirates move in for the kill. Their target is a fortune in gold bullion--and their weapon is a nuclear time-bomb!]

[*set: Arctic. *thriller fiction: Nuclear Submarines, Underwater Exploration, Spy Satellites, Cold War. *fictitious character: Dr. Neil Carpenter, James Swanson, John Hansen]
[--"The Dolphin, pride of America's nuclear fleet, is the only submarine capable of attempting the daring rescue of a British meteorological team trapped on a polar ice cap. The officers aboard the Dolphin know well the hazards of such an assignment. What they do not know is that the rescue attempt is really a cover-up for one of the most desperate espionage missions of the Cold War - and that the Dolphin is heading straight for sub-zero disaster - facing hidden sabotage, murder... and a deadly, invisible enemy".
--"The story evolves in a succession of masterful puzzles as astonishing as they are convincing…. There is so much swift-moving action, so much clever innuendo and such a feeling for relevant detail that one cannot help but be fascinated by the mind at work here." (Times Literary Supplement)]

[magazine publication (in 3 parts): 1966 October - December in 'Argosy' (UK)]

[*set: ship, Scotland. *thriller fiction: Sunken Gold, Mass Kidnapping, Naval Hijacking, Underwater Salvage, Scuba Diving. *fictitious characters: Philip Calvert, sir Arthur Arnford-Jason]
[--Set along the inhospitable northern Scottish coast, this is one of MacLean's more memorable thrillers. "From the moment agent Philip Calvert begins his pursuit of a superbly organized gang of seagoing hijackers, this pulse-pounding yarn slips into high and races with a breathtaking speed that will keep every hair raised and every spine chilled to perfection. "For sheer narrative power, for incredible non-stop action, no one can match Alistair MacLean, today's undisputed master of the adventure novel."]

[*set: Germany, Schloss Adler (imaginary place) (World War II). *thriller fiction: British Secret Agents, Nazi Spies, Double Agents, Counterintelligence, Military. *fictitious character: major John Smith, lieutenant Morris Schaffer]
[--A team of special soldiers is commissioned to destroy the headquarter of the German alpine corps.
--Tops even "Guns of the Navaronne" (Newsday). Eight Allied agents. . . seven men and a woman. . . parachute onto a mountainside behind enemy line in wartime Germany. Their mission: to rescue an American general before the Nazis can force him to reveal secret D-day plans. The whole cliffhanging situation "will attack your adrenalin glands in a masterful manner" . . . the last act coming up with an astonishing surprize." (Kirkus Service).
--"a real dazzler of a thriller, with vivid action, fine set pieces of suspense, and a virtuoso display of startling plot twists." (Anthony Boucher of the New York Times Book Review).]

[*set: Yugoslavia, (World War II). *thriller fiction: Partisans, Espionage, Clandestine Operations. *fictitious characters: Captain Keith Mallory, Colonel Andrea Stavros, Corporal "Dusty" Miller]
[--Sequel to 'The Guns of Navorone.' "The guns have been silenced. But the heroic survivors of Navarone are far from still. They are ready for action again -- and headed for even more excitement in this fast-paced novel of adventure by a master storyteller. Their mission: to free an entire Partisan army trapped in the rugged mountains of Yugoslavia. It begins with a parachute drop behind enemy lines and a deliberate walk into a German camp. Six men against the might of two armored divisions. They couldn't fight them. So they had to join them. And then somehow destroy them! It was an assignment that made Navarone look like a local scout jamboree."
--The thrilling sequel to Alistair MacLean's masterpiece of World War II adventure, The Guns of Navarone. The guns of Navarone have been silenced, but the heroic survivors have no time to rest on their laurels. Almost before the last echoes of the famous guns have died away, Keith Mallory, Andrea and Dusty Miller are parachuting into war-torn Yugoslavia to rescue a division of Partisans ... and to fulfill a secret mission, so deadly that it must be hidden from their own allies. "Compulsively Exciting" (Sunday Telegraph)]

[magazine publication (in 3 parts): 1969 December, 1970 January, February in 'Argosy' (UK)]

[*set: Amsterdam, Netherlands . *thriller fiction: Drug Smuggling, Interpol, Huyler Holland, Narcotics Ring, Hay Dance. *fictitious characters: Paul Sherman, Colonel Van De Graaf, Inspector Van Gelder]
[--Suspense On A Rampage. "From the moment the Interpol agent and his lovely assistants landed in Holland they were in Dutch. He was after a drug ring. Who was after him? First someone killed his contact. Then he ran up against a lethal room clerk. Then a bunch of cute Olde Worlde haydancers went for him with pitchforks. Then he got mixed up with some macabre puppet makers. It was a Netherlands nightmare - and no waking up".]

[*set: France. *thriller fiction: Espionage, Gypsy Caravans. *fictitious characters: Czerda, Duc De Croytor, Neil Bowman, Cecile Dubois]
[--"Every year, for centuries, the gypsies have gathered in a small French tourist town to honor their patron saint. This time, however, the pilgrimage is not so innocent. This time the caravan is a cover for a sinister conspiracy. Terror, murder, and violence lie in wait for the unwary trespasser. Only a chosen few know of the grim secret the gypsies are hiding. They know, too, that discovery may cost them their lives."]

[*set: Arctic, Barents Sea (~1970). *thriller fiction: Cold War, Espionage, Nazi Loot, Nazi Treasure, Communist Agents, Submarines, U-Boats, Treasure Hunt, Money Laundering. *fictitious character: dr. Marlowe, Otto Gerran, Mary Stuart, Charles Conrad, Johann Heissman]
[--"October is no time to be aboard ship in the Barents Sea, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. But that's where the cast and crew of Olympus Productions find themselves. And even before they reach their destination, the ship's doctor has his hands full. Three men are violently murdered, and the company's unspoken fears are confirmed: a pathological killer awaits them on the loneliest, most desolate island in the world."
--A film crew sails north to a barren Arctic island -- with a killer on board. And a wartime graveyeard of ships and men explodes in violence once more! ]

[*set: France. *thriller fiction: Auto Racing, Illegal Drugs, Grand Prix Racing, Drug Rings, Undercover Police, Kidnapping. *fictitious character: Johnny Harlow]
[--In his newest thriller, about the violent, high-powered world of racing, Alistair MacLean unfolds the story of a champion on the skids. They told Johnny Harlow that he was responsible for the accident which had killed his friend and crippled the girl he loved. All the evidence pointed to his guilt: the empty bottles of booze in his room, his mysterious disappearances, his shakiness and the track. "He's a has-been," they said. "A lunatic, a killer, a drunk." Was Johnny what they said? Or was he playing a very special role in a very dangerous game?]

[*set: train, Nevada Territory, Fort Humboldt (imaginary place), (American Old West, 1870s). *thriller fiction: Train Robbery, Repeating Rifles, Indian raids. *fictitious characters: John Deakin, Marica Fairchild]
[--Straight from the Old West and and the breathless imagination of today's top creator of suspense, come this bold non-stop tale of a trainload of terror — and one man pitted against an army of corruption.
--"Breakheart Pass" Alistair Maclean takes on the American Old West - and takes no prisoners in taming it. If you have seen the old television program "The Wild, Wild West" this book bears some broad similarities (or vice versa). Moving from the frigid wastes of the Arctic to the blizzard shrouded mountains of the West, MacLean delivers action and suspense that will keep you glued to the pages. John Deakin, United States Secret Service, is the epitome of the modern British secret agent. He is tough on the outside, ruthless towards his enemies, but soft on the inside. Held prisoner on a train heading towards a rendezvous with a band of renegade Indians, every man's hand turned against him, he must somehow thwart the carefully laid plans of a corrupt territorial governor and his henchmen. At stake is not just the prospect of having those Indians armed with the most modern of repeating rifles, but a huge shipment of gold headed east from the California mine. Not to mention rescuing the cavalry and saving the governor's innocent niece. The prospects seem bleak, to say the least.]

[*set: Eastern Europe. *thriller fiction: Espionage, Cold War, Circus Animal. *fictitious character: Bruno Wildermann]
[--"When circus aerialist and mentalist Bruno Wildermann is recruited by the CIA for a mission that only someone of his incredible talents could undertake, he is aware that he holds the key to the world's survival in his hands. His assignment is to break into the infamous Lubylan prison in Eastern Europe where a deadly secret is hidden - a formula capable of annihilating the earth itself. He is to memorize it. And destroy it. But even before Bruno begins his terrifying assignment the assassins are already in motion... Here is vintage MacLean with a suspense that builds of equal parts action, espionage, and the razor-edged excitement of a circus atmosphere."]

[*set: San Francisco, California. *thriller fiction: Terrorism, Robbery, Ransom. *fictitious character: Paul Revson]
[--"This is the beginning of the most spectacular kidnapping in history. The President of the United States and two Arab leaders are taken hostage in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge - and the bridge is wired to explode! A half billion dollars ransom is what master criminal Peter Bransom and his handpicked gang of killers are asking. It appears to be a foolproof scheme. Except for one thing. Agent Paul Revson, who has mysteriously become a hostage. Quietly, stealthily Paul begins to unleash his counterplot - as daring and dangerous as Branson's own..." Another classic MacLean tale of action and adventure, filled with misdirection and derring-do.]

[*set: ?. *thriller fiction: Oil Conspiracy, Terrorism. *fictitious characters: Cronkite, Michael Mitchell, John Roomer]
[--"There were ten of them. Oil magnates. All in a secret meeting to plot the destruction of Lord Worth, England's famous oil billionaire. They hired the notorious trouble shooter, Cronkite - violent, ruthless, deadly. Cronkite was not above using nuclear weapons. The target: 'Seawitch'. Lord Worth's massive ocean oil rig. But Lord Worth had a few tricks of his own. The most deadly being two crackerjack private investigators who just happened to be in love with Lord Worth's daughters. So when Cronkite decided his first move was to kidnap the girls he was unaware that he had made a very dangerous mistake..."]

[*set: California. *thriller fiction: Earthquakes, Nuclear Hijacking, Atomic Bombs, Filipino Terrorists. *fictitious character: Sergeant John Ryder, Morro]
[--"The reign of terror began with a well planned heist at a nuclear power station. Then came the threat-from a man known only as Morro-to trigger an earthquake that would wash the entire state of California into the sea. Who was this man and what did he want? Detective Sergeant Ryder, whose wife had been taken hostage by the terrorists, began his own campaign of terror-a campaign that led to the down-to-the-wire race to reach the destruct button before Morro did."]

[*set: Alaska and northwest Canada. *thriller fiction: Eco Terrorism, Alaska Oil Pipeline, Pipeline Sabotage, Alaskan North Slope, Oil Spills, Environmental Damage,  Oil Shale Refining, Shale Mining. *fictitious character: Jim Brady, George Dermott, Donald Mackenzie]
[--"Beyond America's northernmost frontier, amid the frozen oil-rich tar sands of Athabasca, comes this headlong tale of blackmail, kidnapping, and murder - and of ruthless men who attempt to hold hostage the Alaskan pipeline itself. . . " Alistair MacLean is good form, displaying his penchant for snow-covered techno-thrillers, set in both Canada and Alaska.
--Two of the most important oil fields in the world have been sabotaged. One in Canada, the other in Alaska. Somewhere a deadly and efficient unknown entity is intent on causing the utmost destruction.]

[*set: Brazil, Rio Da Morte (imaginary place). *thriller fiction: Nazi Treasure Hunt,  Nazi War Criminals. *fictitious characters: John Hamilton, Edward Hiller]
[--"In the last desperate hours of Hitler's Reich, two SS officers plot to escape to South America with a fortune in stolen loot. But only one succeeds. He build a multimillion dollar empire in Brazil, and no one knows of his Nazi past...except a stranger named Hamilton - a stranger whose wife the German had killed..."]

[*set: Yugoslavia (World War II, 1943). *thriller fiction: Secret Agents, Commandos, Balkans. *fictitious character: major Peter Petersen]
[--"Although he prefers the simple, direct life, Major Peter Petersen's life is far from simple. Against the backdrop of the Balkan Peninsula during World War II, Peter leads a commando force to deliver a vital message to the Partisans. Peter knows it won't be a smooth operation. That sixth sense a veteran acquires warns him of a set-up. His orders reek of double cross and deception." ]

[*set: Holland, Amsterdam. *thriller fiction: Atomic Weapons Terrorist,  Nuclear terrorism, Dutch Dikes, Airport Flooding. *fictitious character: Peter Van Effen, colonel Van de Graaf]
[--"Holland is menaced by a new brand of terrorists, a mysterious extremist group called the FFF. They threaten to blow up the country's dikes and flood the Netherlands if their demands are not met. Now the fate of this small country depends on the wit and daring of three men, undercover agents, who have infiltrated terrorist headquarters. Mistakes are deadly, but Peter Van Effen, police lieutenant, hopes that his team is more than a match for the madmen."]

[*set: ship, North Sea (World War II). *thriller fiction: Espionage, Nazi Saboteur, Merchant Convoy, Merchant Marine, Luftwaffe Attack. *fictitious characters: Archie McKinnon]
[--"Suddenly, just before dawn, the lights went out aboard the "San Andreas". For the British hospital ship sailing the deadly, U-boat patrolled Norwegian waters, a nightmare of violence and betrayal has begun. A terrifying game of sabotage in which an unknown traitor among the crew holds all the cards. The red crosses on the vessel's sides spell anything but safety. For a dangerous secret has turned the ship into a priceless quarry. With the Captain out of action Bosun Archie McKinnon takes over. Alone in treacherous, frozen seas, her compass smashed, the San Andreas is being drawn relentlessly into the enemy's hands."]

[*set: ship, Aegean Sea. *thriller fiction: Electronic Surveillance, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Terrorism. *fictitious character: commander Talbot]
[--"Santorini was a sleepy island in the Aegean Sea and a routine patrol for Commander Talbot and his ultrasophisticated NATO spyship, HMS Ariadne. But a mundane assignment becomes a storm of danger and sudden death when a luxury yacht explodes and capsizes in nearby waters, followed minutes later by the mysterious crash of an unidentified jet. Assigned to recover the plane's cargo, Talbot's crew discover enough nuclear weapons to blow Santorini sky-high and a set of clues proving the two disasters, far from coincidental, are the work of international terrorists bent on bringing the planet to the brink of World War III."]

Omnibus of novels:

Alistair MacLean: Six Complete Novels (London: Fontana, 1984 [1983*])
Containing: Last Frontier; The Golden Gate; Goodbye California; Guns of Navarone; Force 10 from Navarone; When Eight Bells Toll.

The Guns of Navarone / Force 10 from Navarone [Cinema Classics] (Wings [USA], 2000)
[--These two World War II novels, written by master of action, espionage, adventure, and suspense were among Alistair MacLean's biggest bestsellers, and they went on to become enormously successful films. This is edge-of-the-seat, page-turning reading.]

Alistair MacLean's Sea Thrillers (Harper/Collins, 2005)
Containing: The Golden Rendezvous and San Andreas.

Alistair MacLean's Arctic Chillers (Harper/Collins, 2007)
Containing: Bear Island and Athabasca.

Collection of Short Stories:

Contents:
The Dileas [* in March 1954 this story won first prize in a short story competition organised by the Glasgow Herald.];
St. George and the Dragon ;
The Arandora Star ;
Rawalpindi ;
The Sinking of the Bismarck ;
The Meknes ;
MacHinery and the Cauliflowers ;
Lancastria ;
McCrimmon and the Blue Moonstones ;
They Sweep the Seas ;
City of Benares ;
The Gold Watch ;
Rendezvous [* novelette of World War II];
The Jervis Bay ;
Alistair MacLean on the Rewards and Responsibilities of Success [article from the Glasgow Herald 1982].

[--The following stories published in the Sunday Express (1960*-?):
City of Benares; The Arandora Star; Rawalpindi; The Meknes; The Jervis Bay; Lancastria.
Alistair MacLean has an unmistakable and unrivalled skill in writing about the sea and its power and about the men and women who sail it. His distinctive voice was evident from his very first prize winning story, The Dileas, and has been heard time and again in his international career as the author of such bestsellers as H.M.S. ULYSSES and SAN ANDREAS. THE LONELY SEA starts where MacLean's career started, with The Dileas, and collects together his stories of the sea. Here is a treasury of vintage MacLean, compelling and brilliant, where the master storyteller is in his element.
--A collection of sea stories, in which he proved again his skill in describing the power of the sea. The book included his very first prize-winning achievement, a tale of an old seaman who takes an old fishing boat out in a storm in order to rescue his two sons.]

(Верный. [The Dileas. рассказ])

Uncollected Short Story:

NON-FICTION books:

[--At the outbreak of the First World War, T. E. Lawrence was a British officer assigned to Branch Intelligence in Cairo. In this routine job the young lieutenant demonstrated an unfortunate talent for irritating his superior officers - as well as a remarkable knowledge of Arabia and its people. But there was nothing to indicate that he would become a legend in his own lifetime. "Lawrence of Arabia" is an absorbing account of how this dramatic change came about, beginning with Lawrence's transfer to the Arab Bureau where he was to coordinate British and Arab troop movements. Boldly he plunged into the bitter conflict raging between the Arabs and their Turkish conquerors and worked out for his Arab allies a brilliant series of campaign tactics. Against a background of desert warfare, Alistair MacLean presents an unforgettable portrait of the genius who gave his mind, heart and perseverance to a dram of Arab independence - and in so doing became the immortal "Lawrence of Arabia".]

[--Edited by Alastair MacTavish Dunnett. A well illustrated, and described book dealing with the history of Scotland by thirteen authorities]

[--The author's achievement in this book is to present a graphic and lively account of this great explorer, and to describe in exciting detail his three amazing voyages and the adventures that befell him.]

Screenplays:

[--MacLean wrote the novel and screenplay of 'Where Eagles Dare' at the same time. In effect it was commissioned by Richard Burton, who wanted to make a "boy's own" type adventure film that he could take his son to see. The book and screenplay differ markedly in that, in the book, Smith and Schaffer at times go out of their way not to kill anyone, whereas in the film they basically shoot anything that moves. In fact, the film contains Clint Eastwood's highest on-screen body count. Also, in the book, Schaffer is considerably more talkative than Eastwood's considerably more laconic version. (en.wikipedia.org)
--"You have to put your brain on hold to watch this, so many are its implausibility's. But despite the fact that it should have been at least half an hour shorter, there is plenty of stirring action to be enjoyed." (Simon Rose in Classic Film Guide, 1995) ]

[--Billed as novelist Alistair MacLean's first original television thriller, this tale finds flamboyant master criminal Keir Dullea and several specialists staging an audacious scheme to capture the Eiffel Tower and hold as hostage one of its visitors, the U.S. President's mother (veteran British actress Celia Johnson), while Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., head of a UN security force, tries to foil the plot with the aid of Peter Fonda (his TV-movie debut) and Billy Dee Williams. Rachel Roberts (as Fairbanks' assistant) had her final role here (although a later TV appearance in "The Wall", filmed earlier, followed in 1981)]

Articles: