This was Hector Hugh Munro, born in Burma on November 12, 1870. His fame as a writer rests on his brilliant short stories which have been collected in several volumes such as Reginald, Reginald in Russia and The Chronicles of Clovis. He was only a child when his mother died and, in Devonshire, England, he was brought up by two …

It was whilst he was still working as a Bank of England official that Kenneth Grahame published his first work, and it was when he was fifty-nine years old that his masterpiece appeared. He originally wrote The Wind in the Willows, a charming animal fantasy, for his young son, but it soon became a best seller, and has remained so …

William Wilkie Collins who was the son of William Collins, the painter. Born in London January 8, 1824, he studied law and was called to the Bar in 1851. He was already writing and in 1850 his novel Antonina had appeared but his high rank in literature stands on his two well-known mystery novels. Wilkie Collins was a close friend …

A certain professor of philosophy at the Swiss University of Berne. His name was Johann Rudolph Wyss and he was the son of a pastor, born at Berne, March 13, 1781. The Swiss Family Robinson was based on a tale told to Johann Wyss by his father.

Dorothy Gladys Smith, better known as Dodie Smith and in theatrical circles by her pen-name CL Anthony. She was born May 3, 1896 at Whitefield, Lancashire and educated at Manchester and at St Paul’s Girls’ School in London. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she first appeared on stage in musical comedy in 1915. After several years …

This story is considered one of the greatest fairy tales. Indeed, most critics would undoubtedly accord it the accolade of being the greatest. The idea of a poor young girl being ill-treated by her step-mother, and then with fairy help, receiving beautiful clothes, complete with rich shoes which lead to a Royal marriage, dates as far back as far back …

His pen-name was Sapper, his real name being Cyril McNeile, born 28 September, 1888. He was the son of a naval captain and entered the Royal Engineers, (whose nick-name is The Sappers) in 1907. He served through the First World War, retiring from the army with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1919. He began his writing carees with Sergeant …

Prosper Merimee wrote Carmen, the novel that attracted the attention of George Bizet, the composer. Merimee was born September 28, 1803, in Paris. He grew up a melancholy man of sensitive temper and a great writer of imaginative prose. He died September 23, 1870.

The American author Herman Melville. He was born August 1, 1819 in New York, the son of Allan Melville, a ne’ er-do-well importer of the most fashionable clothes and expensive materials. When in 1812 war broke out between Britain and the United States, the business failed. In 1832 Herman Melville’s father died, his mind unbalanced by the misfortunes of his …

Neol Langley, who was born in South Africa, December 25, 1911. The title of the book is The Land of Green Ginger. Like the original story of Aladdin as told in The Arabian Nights Entertainment, it concerns the adventures of a day amid wizardry and magicians. So far as writing is concerned, Noel Langley was a man of many parts. …