Alistair MacLean

Alistair Stuart MacLean (Template:Langx; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably The Guns of Navarone (1957) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, which was also a bestselling novel. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

According to one obituary, MacLean "never lost his love for the sea, his talent for portraying good Brits against bad Germans, or his penchant for high melodrama. Critics deplored his cardboard characters and vapid females, but readers loved his combination of hot macho action, wartime commando sagas, and exotic settings that included Greek Islands and Alaskan oil fields."<ref name="globe"/>

Early life

Alistair Stuart Maclean was born on 21 April 1922 in Shettleston, Glasgow, the third of four sons of a Church of Scotland minister,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but spent much of his childhood and youth in Daviot, Template:Convert south of Inverness. He spoke only Scottish Gaelic before attending school.<ref name="war"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1941, at the age of 19, MacLean was called up to fight in the Second World War with the Royal Navy, serving with the ranks of ordinary seaman, able seaman, and leading torpedo operator. He was first assigned to PS Bournemouth Queen, a converted excursion ship fitted for antiaircraft guns, on duty off the coasts of England and Scotland. Beginning in 1943, he served on Template:HMS, a Dido-class light cruiser. There, he saw action in 1943 in the Atlantic theatre, on two Arctic convoys and escorting aircraft carrier groups in operations against Template:Ship, and other targets off the Norwegian coast. He took part in Convoy PQ 17 on Royalist.<ref name="war"/> In 1944, Royalist and he served in the Mediterranean theatre, as part of the invasion of southern France and in helping to sink blockade runners off Crete and bombard Milos in the Aegean. During this time, MacLean may have been injured in a gunnery-practice accident. In 1945, in the Far East theatre, MacLean and Royalist saw action escorting carrier groups in operations against Japanese targets in Burma, Malaya, and Sumatra. (MacLean's late-in-life claims that he was captured by the Japanese after blowing up bridges, and tortured by having his teeth pulled out, have been dismissed by both his son and his biographer as drunken ravings).<ref name="under"/><ref name=webster>Webster, Alistair MacLean: A Life, p. 191.</ref> After the Japanese surrender, Royalist helped evacuate liberated POWs from Changi Prison in Singapore.

MacLean was discharged from the Royal Navy in 1946. He then studied English at the University of Glasgow, working at the post office and as a street sweeper.<ref name="irish">"Alistair Maclean dies aged 64", The Irish Times, 3 February 1987: 4.</ref> He lived with his mother at 26 Carrington Street, at St Georges Cross, Glasgow while attending the university.Template:Citation needed He graduated with an MA (Hons.) in 1950, briefly worked as a hospital porter, and then worked as a schoolteacher at Gallowflat School (now Stonelaw High School) in Rutherglen.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ODNB>Chapman, Ian, "Maclean, Alistair Stuart (1922–1987)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, 23 September 2004. Retrieved 2 December 2021. Template:Subscription required</ref>

Early writing career

First works

Whilst a university student, MacLean began writing short stories for extra income, winning a competition in 1954 with the maritime story "Dileas". He sold stories to the Daily Mirror and The Evening News. The wife of Ian Chapman, editor at the publishing company Collins, had been particularly moved by "Dileas" and the Chapmans arranged to meet with MacLean, suggesting he write a novel.<ref>Why Alistair MacLean felt he had failed Author: Ian Chapman Date: Tuesday, 3 February 1987 Publication: Daily Mail (London, UK) Issue: 28181 p 7</ref> MacLean responded three months later with HMS Ulysses, based on his own war experiences and credited insight from his brother Ian, a master mariner.<ref name="irish"/><ref>Webster p 66-68</ref>

MacLean later described his writing process:

Template:ErrorTemplate:Main other{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

MacLean was paid a large advance of $50,000, which made the headlines. Collins were rewarded when the book sold a quarter of a million copies in hardback in the UK in the first six months of publication. It went on to sell millions more.<ref name="alistair"/> Film rights were sold to Robert Clark of Associated British for £30,000, though a film was never made.<ref>Webster p 73</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This money meant MacLean was able to devote himself to writing full-time.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Guns of Navarone

His next novel, The Guns of Navarone (1957), was about an attack on the fictitious island of Navarone (based on Milos). The book was very successful, selling over 400,000 copies in its first six months.<ref name="irish"/> In 1957, MacLean said, "I'm not a literary person. If someone offered me £100,000 tax free, I'd never write another word."<ref>The Bashful Best-seller fires another broadside Author: Marshall Pugh Date: Monday, 21 January 1957 Publication: Daily Mail (London, UK) Issue: 1889 p 4</ref> The film version of The Guns of Navarone (1961) was hugely successful.<ref>Steinberg, Cobbett (1980). Film Facts. New York: Facts on File, Inc. p. 24. Template:ISBN.</ref>

MacLean was unhappy at the tax paid on earnings for his first two novels, so he moved to Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, where he would pay less tax. He planned to write one novel a year. "It's all the market can stand," he said, adding it took him three months to write it.<ref>Tanfield's Diary Author: Alistair MacLean Date: Monday, 21 October 1957 Publication: Daily Mail (London, UK) Issue: 19130 p16</ref>

MacLean followed it with South by Java Head (1958), based on his experiences in the seas off Southeast Asia in World War Two. Film rights for South by Java Head were sold, but no movie resulted.<ref>New Guinness Film to Cost $4 Million The Washington Post and Times-Herald 20 January 1960: B10.</ref>

The Last Frontier (1959), was a thriller about the Hungarian uprising of 1956. The Last Frontier was turned into a movie, The Secret Ways (1961), which was not very successful.

His next novels were Night Without End (1959) and Fear Is the Key (1961).

Ian Stuart

In the early 1960s, MacLean published two novels under the pseudonym "Ian Stuart" to prove that the popularity of his books was due to their content rather than his name on the cover.<ref>Webster p 112-117</ref> These were The Dark Crusader (1961) and The Satan Bug (1962). He also said it was because "I usually write adventure stories, but this is a sort of Secret Service or private eye book. I didn't want to confuse my readers."<ref>The Navarone author fools the critics Author: Paul Tanfield Date: Monday, 22 January 1962 Publication: Daily Mail (London, UK) Issue: 20448 p4</ref>

The Ian Stuart books sold well, and MacLean made no attempt to change his writing style. He also continued to publish novels under his own name such as The Golden Rendezvous (1962) and Ice Station Zebra (1963).<ref>Webster p 118-120</ref>

"I'm not a novelist", he once said. "That's too pretentious a claim. I'm a storyteller, that's all. I'm a professional and a craftsman. I will make that claim for myself."<ref name="post" /> MacLean also claimed he wrote very fast (35 days for a novel) because he disliked writing and the "sooner he finished, the better." He never reread a book after it was finished.<ref name="post" /> His novels were notable for their lack of sex. "I like girls", he said. "I just don't write them well. Everyone knows that men and women make love, laddie – there is no need to show it."<ref name="post" />

Retirement

In 1963, MacLean decided to retire from writing, saying he never enjoyed it and only did it to make money. He decided to become a hotelier and bought the Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor and then bought two more hotels, the Bank House near Worcester and the Bean Bridge at Wellington in Somerset.<ref>Webster p 121-122</ref><ref name="aww">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> MacLean focused on his hotel career for three years. It was not a success, and by 1976, he had sold all three hotels. During this time, a film was made of The Satan Bug.<ref>Webster p 124-127</ref>

Return to writing

Screenwriter

MacLean returned to writing with When Eight Bells Toll (1966).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Cinema producer Elliot Kastner admired MacLean, and asked him if he would be interested in writing an original screenplay. MacLean agreed to the proposition, and Kastner sent the writer two scripts, one by William Goldman and one by Robert and Jane Howard-Carrington, to familiarize himself with the format. Kastner said he wanted a World War Two story with a group of men on a mission to rescue someone, with a "ticking clock" and some female characters. MacLean agreed to write it for an initial $10,000 with $100,000 to come later. This script was Where Eagles Dare.<ref>Webster p 129-130</ref>

In July 1966, Kastner and his producing partner Jerry Gershwin announced they had purchased five screenplays from MacLean: Where Eagles Dare, When Eight Bells Toll, and three other unnamed ones.<ref>Gene Kelly to Do 'Married' Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times, 30 July 1966: 18.</ref><ref>Aba, Marika (21 July 1968) "The Burtons... 'Just Another Working Couple'". Los Angeles Times c18.</ref> (Kastner made four MacLean movies.) MacLean also wrote a novel for Where Eagles Dare, after the screenplay, which was published in 1967 before the film came out. The book was a bestseller, and the 1968 film version was a huge hit.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

"MacLean is a natural storyteller", said Kastner. "He is a master of adventure. All his books are conceived in cinematic terms. They hardly need to be adapted for the screen; when you read them, the screen is in front of your mind."<ref>ALISTAIR MacLEAN DIES; BOOKS SOLD IN MILLIONS: [Obituary] McDOWELL, EDWIN. New York Times 3 February 1987: B.7.</ref> MacLean wrote a sequel to Guns of Navarone, Force 10 from Navarone (1968). A film version was announced in 1967, but did not result for another decade.<ref>Second 'Navarone' Film Set Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 13 April 1967: d19.</ref> The same year, an expensive film based on Ice Station Zebra was released.

Producer

In 1967, MacLean formed a partnership with Geoffrey Reeve and Lewis Jenkins to make films for MacLean to write and Reeves to direct. They planned to make a sequel to Guns of Navarone, only to discover that Carl Foreman, producer of the original film, had registered the title After Navarone. This led to a falling-out with Foreman, and a delay in the Navarone sequel.<ref>Webster p 141-143</ref>

Maclean wrote a thriller about narcotics, Puppet on a Chain (1969), and Caravan to Vaccarès (1970). These books all began as screenplays for Kastner.<ref>The Man who Knows where the Action Is. Alistair MacLean and Godfrey Smith. The Sunday Times (London, England), Sunday, 18 January 1970; pg. 37[S]; Issue 7651. (1523 words)</ref> Maclean said Puppet was "a change of style from the earlier books. If I went on writing the same stuff, I'd be guying myself."<ref name="barry"/>

When Puppet on a Chain was made, Maclean said, "I've been connected with it for three years and it's too much for me. All those entrepreneurs and promoters who aren't creative. All that time wasted."<ref name="barry">Name: Alistair MacLean. Occupation: Storyteller (not novelist). Destiny: To make a million. Present job (unhappily for him): Making the film of the book. His book Author: Barry Norman Date: Monday, 27 April 1970 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 23009 p 7</ref>

"There is nobody to touch him," said Ian Chapman. "But he is a storyteller, not a film man."<ref name="barry"/>

MacLean then wrote Bear Island (1971), the last of his first-person narratives.Template:Citation needed

MacLean moved to Switzerland in 1970 as a tax exile.<ref>MacLean p 158</ref> That year, he said, "there's Harold Robbins, Agatha Christie, Georges Simenon, and me." He added, "I'm a storyteller, that's all. There's no art in it, no mystique. It's a job like any other. The secret, if there is one, is speed. That's why there's so little sex in my books – it holds up the action." He said he enjoyed the plotting "but the rest is a pain."<ref name="barry"/>

In 1970 MacLean, whose hero was Raymond Chandler, said "give me ten years, a few more books, and maybe, maybe I'll be half as good as Chandler."<ref name="barry"/>

Kastner produced a film version of When Eight Bells Toll (1971), based on a script by MacLean, and Fear Is the Key (1972), adapted by another writer.<ref>Webster p 139-140</ref> Another producer made Puppet on a Chain (1971), directed by Reeves, from a script by MacLean.<ref>Webster p 155-156</ref> Neither performed particularly strongly at the box office.<ref name="new" />

Mary MacLean

In 1972, MacLean married his second wife, Mary Georgius.<ref>A new chapter in the MacLean travel story... Author: Paul Callan Date: Wednesday, 13 June 1973 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 23965</ref> She planned to produce three films based on his books, but the box-office failure of the last three MacLean adaptations put these on hold.<ref name="war" /> One of these proposed films was The Way to Dusty Death, which was to star Jackie Stewart. It ended up being a 1973 novel and a 1995 film.<ref name="war">War Is Hell, but It Pays Off for MacLean: War Pays Off for MacLean War Pays Off for MacLean War is Hell, but It Pays Off for Alistair Johnstone, Jain. Los Angeles Times 17 December 1972: p1.</ref>

In 1973, MacLean was looking at moving to Jamaica. He also considered moving to Ireland, but decided to stay in Switzerland.<ref>An £80,000 surprise... for the king of suspense Author: Paul Callan Date: Thursday, 19 April 1973 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 23920 p 19</ref>

Geoffrey Reeve directed a film of Caravan to Vaccarès (1974). By 1973, MacLean had sold over 24 million novels.<ref name="post">Best-Selling Author Alistair MacLean Dies The Washington Post 3 February 1987: b04.</ref> "I am not a writer," he said in 1972. "I am a businessman. My business is writing."<ref name="war" /> MacLean had spent a number of years focusing on screenplays, but disliked it and decided to return to being predominantly a novel writer. "Hollywood destroys writers," he said.<ref name="under" /> He wrote a biography of Captain James Cook, which was published in 1972.<ref>THE BOOK REPORT: Capt. Cook's Great Voyages Told in Sketches With Text Kirsch, Robert. Los Angeles Times 28 September 1972: e7.</ref> He wrote Breakheart Pass (1974),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Circus (1975),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Golden Gate (1976),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Seawitch (1977),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Goodbye California (1979) and Athabasca (1980).

"I read a lot, I travel some," he said in 1975. "But mostly what I don't know, I invent."<ref>CRITIC AT LARGE: The Scot's Got Lots of Plots Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times 27 February 1975: f1.</ref> In 1976, he was living in Los Angeles and said he wanted to write a four-volume serious piece called "The Rembrandt Quarter" based on the painting The Night Watch.<ref>Meeting MacLean, the mystery man Author: Sally Ogle Davis Date: Saturday, 17 January 1976 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 24767 p 7</ref> These books were never published.

In 1977, it was announced MacLean, then worth £5 million, would divorce Mary, who said the author was impossible to live with.<ref>Why my husband and I have parted—by Mrs Alistair MacLean Author: Nigel Dempster Date: Wednesday, 19 January 1977 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 25078 p 13</ref>

In 1978, MacLean said he "just can't understand" why people bought his novels. "It's not as if I write that well: I do feel my English isn't very good. In fact, I'd rather write in Gaelic or Spanish than English."<ref name="under"/>

He said his stories tended to pit "character against character as a kind of intellectual chess game" and that he found writing "boring" and "lonely", but "I guess it all boils down to that rather awful philosophy of take the money and run."<ref name="under"/> "I am just a journeyman," he said. "I blunder along from one book to the next always hopeful that one day I will write something really good."<ref name="under">Mystery of success: Alistair MacLean wants to be great Dangaard, Colin. Chicago Tribune 11 September 1978: b1.</ref>

Films were still being made out of his novels, including Breakheart Pass (1975) (from Kastner), Golden Rendezvous (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), and Bear Island (1979), but none did very well.

In 1976, MacLean's second wife Mary formed a company with producer Peter Snell, Aleelle Productions, which aimed to make movies based on MacLean novels, including Golden Gate, Bear Island, The Way to Dusty Death, and Captain Cook. This company still owned these film rights after MacLean divorced Mary in 1977, but the rights soon passed to Snell.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

MacLean decided to focus on American television, writing a novella titled Air Force One is Down, which was turned down by the American television network NBC (it would be produced in 2012). He then pitched six new ideas to networks, each with a 25– to 30-page synopsis to see which was commercially viable before The Hostage Tower was approved by CBS, and aired on American television in 1980.<ref name="new">Alistair MacLean's Eiffel Tower Drama By DAVID LEWIN. New York Times 11 May 1980: D37.</ref>

Later career

His later works include River of Death (1981) (filmed in 1989), Partisans (1982), Floodgate (1983), and San Andreas (1984). Often, these novels were worked on by ghost writers specializing in drama, with MacLean providing only the plots and characters.<ref>Haunted by ghost writers Hamilton, Ian. The Observer (1901–2003); London (UK) [London (UK)]19 Mar 1995: 88.</ref> His last novel was Santorini (1986), which was published after his death.<ref>The Final Adventure of Alistair MacLean: SANTORINI By Alistair MacLean Doubleday. 245 pp. $16.95 By Heywood Hale Broun. The Washington Post 12 April 1987: BW7.</ref> His estate left behind several outlines. One of them was filmed as Death Train (1993).<ref>The New Adventures of Pierce Brosnan: ACTOR IS BACK ON TRACK WITH USA NETWORK'S 'DEATH TRAIN' SUSAN KING TIMES STAFF WRITER. Los Angeles Times 11 April 1993: J15.</ref> His later books were not as well received as the earlier publications, and in an attempt to keep his stories in keeping with the time, he sometimes lapsed into unduly improbable plots.Template:Citation needed

Death

MacLean died of heart failure<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> at the age of 64 in Munich on 2 February 1987; his last years were affected by alcoholism.<ref name="Simon and Schuster">Template:Cite book</ref> According to one obituary, "A master of nail-chewing suspense, MacLean met an appropriately mysterious death; when he died in the Bavarian capital after a brief illness, no one, including the British Embassy, knew what he was doing there."<ref name="globe">Alistair MacLean Mysterious death for writer Cannon, Margaret. The Globe and Mail 3 February 1987: C.5.</ref><ref>McDOWELL, EDWIN. "ALISTAIR MacLEAN DIES; BOOKS SOLD IN MILLIONS." New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast) ed.3 Feb 1987.</ref><ref name="Simon and Schuster"/> He is buried in the Old Cemetery ("Vieux Cimetière") of Céligny, Switzerland, close to the grave of his friend Richard Burton.

Personal life

He was married twice and had three sons (one adopted) by his first wife, Gisela. He married for a second time in 1972; that marriage ended in divorce in 1977.<ref>MARRIAGES Variety; Los Angeles Vol. 268, Iss. 11, (25 Oct 1972): 71.</ref> His niece Shona MacLean (also published under S.G. Maclean) is a writer and historical novelist.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

MacLean was awarded a doctor of letters by the University of Glasgow in 1983.<ref name=ODNB/>

Critical appraisal

Writer Algis Budrys described MacLean's writing style as - "hit 'em with everything but the kitchen sink, then give 'em the sink, and when they raise their heads, drop the plumber on 'em".<ref name="budrys196604">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the John Wick film series, cited MacLean and Stephen King as among his primary influences.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

List of works

Novels

Rankings according to New York Times

Year	Title	Notes	Highest position reached	Number of weeks on list
1955	HMS Ulysses		#8	17
1957	The Guns of Navarone		#12	3
1958	South by Java Head		—	—
1959	The Last Frontier	in the US The Secret Ways	—	—
1959	Night Without End		#13	2
1961	Fear Is the Key		—	—
1961	The Dark Crusader	in the US The Black Shrike (as Ian Stuart)	—	—
1962	The Golden Rendezvous		#13	8
1962	The Satan Bug	as Ian Stuart	#16	1
1962	All About Lawrence of Arabia	Non-fiction
1963	Ice Station Zebra		#10	1
1966	When Eight Bells Toll	Also wrote screenplay.	—	—
1967	Where Eagles Dare	Wrote screenplay and novelization simultaneously	-	-
1968	Force 10 From Navarone		#4	18
1969	Puppet on a Chain	Also wrote screenplay	#5	17
1970	Caravan to Vaccarès		#6	12
1971	Bear Island		#5	14
1972	Alistair MacLean Introduces Scotland	Non-fiction, edited by Alastair Dunnett
1972	Captain Cook	Non-fiction
1973	The Way to Dusty Death		—	—
1974	Breakheart Pass		—	—
1975	Circus		#5	12
1976	The Golden Gate		#8	2
1977	Seawitch		#15	1
1978	Goodbye California		#10	9
1980	Athabasca		#3<ref>"PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS; MASS MARKET." New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast) ed.25 Apr 1982.</ref>	—
1981	River of Death		—	—
1982	Partisans		#15	1
1983	Floodgate		#12	3
1984	San Andreas		—	—
1985	The Lonely Sea	Collection of short stories (2 stories added in 2009)	—	—
1986	Santorini		#13	2

Source for The New York Times Best Seller list: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Figures are for the Adult Hardcover Fiction lists, 1956 through 1987: highest position reached and total number of weeks on list. A "—" indicates it did not make the list. Note that the Times list consisted of a Top 10 from 1963 through 1976, but a Top 15 or 16 before and after; thus, books during that middle period may have had longer stays relative to the others.

File:Alistair Maclean book collection01.jpg

A collection of MacLean's fiction works from 1955 to 1971, published by Heron Books (London) in the mid-1970s

UNACO books by other authors

Year	Title	Author, using MacLean's notes
1980	Hostage Tower	John Denis
1981	Air Force One is Down	John Denis
1989	Death Train	Alastair MacNeill
1989	Night Watch	Alastair MacNeill
1990	Red Alert	Alastair MacNeill
1991	Time of the Assassins	Alastair MacNeill
1992	Dead Halt	Alastair MacNeill
1993	Code Breaker	Alastair MacNeill
1995	Rendezvous	Alastair MacNeill
1997	Prime Target	Hugh Miller
1998	Borrowed Time	Hugh Miller

Golden Girl series by other authors

Year	Title	Notes
1992	Golden Girl	by Simon Gandolfi
1993	Golden Web	by Simon Gandolfi
1994	Golden Vengeance	by Simon Gandolfi

Films with screenplay contribution

Year	Title	Notes
1968	Where Eagles Dare	book author/screenplay
1970	Puppet on a Chain	book author/screenplay
1971	When Eight Bells Toll	book author/screenplay
1975	Breakheart Pass	book author/screenplay
2012	Air Force One Is Down (2012 television miniseries)	story

Other films

Year	Title	Notes
1961	The Secret Ways	book author
1961	The Guns of Navarone	book author
1965	The Satan Bug	book author
1968	Ice Station Zebra	book author
1972	Fear Is the Key	book author
1974	Caravan to Vaccares	book author
1977	Golden Rendezvous	book author
1978	Force 10 from Navarone	book author
1979	Bear Island	book author
1980	The Hostage Tower	story
1989	River of Death	book author
1993	Death Train	story
1995	The Way to Dusty Death	book author
1995	Night Watch	story

See also

• Hammond Innes

References

Bibliography

• Template:Books and Writers
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Lee, Robert A. Alistair MacLean: The Key is Fear. Borgo Press, 1976. Template:ISBN.
• Webster, Jack. Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans Publishers, 1991. Template:ISBN. (Alternative title: Alistair MacLean: A Biography of a Master Storyteller.)
• "Maclean, Alistair". Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Liam Rodger and Joan Bakewell. London: Chambers Harrap, 2011.

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0533745

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0533745|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm0533745/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+%0A++++++%7C+%7B%7B%7Bname%7D%7D%7D%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if: 0533745  {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: 
 | {{{name}}}
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: 0533745{{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=0533745|plain=false}}

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}

• Template:Internet Archive author
• Harper dares with Alistair MacLean reissue, 2009.09.11