Christopher Guy Landon (29 March 1911 – 26 April 1961) was a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

and screenwriter best known for the novel ''Ice Cold in Alex'' and its subsequent film adaption.

Biography

Landon was born in West Byfleet, Surrey. His father was a

stockjobber Stockjobbers were institutions that acted as market makers in the London Stock Exchange. The business of stockjobbing emerged in the 1690s during England's Financial Revolution. During the 18th century the jobbers attracted numerous critiques from ...

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

descent and he was a distant cousin of the author Perceval Landon. He was educated at

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

where he studied medicine. Landon served with the Royal Army Medical Corps and Royal Army Service Corps in North Africa during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Granted a

field commission In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank ...

, Landon ended the war as a Captain and was granted an honorary promotion to Major when he relinquished his commission in 1951. After the war he wrote several novels including ''A Flag in the City'', a fictional account of British intelligence destroying German fifth column operations in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

; ''Stone Cold Dead in the Market''; ''Hornet's Nest''; ''Dead Men Rise Up Never''; and ''Unseen Enemy'' (also known as ''The Shadow of Time''). He died of accidental alcohol and barbiturate poisoning at his home in

Frognal Frognal is a small area of Hampstead, North West London in the London Borough of Camden. Frognal is reinforced as the name of a minor road, which goes uphill from Finchley Road and at its upper end is in the west of Hampstead village. History ...

in 1961, leaving a wife and three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Landon, Christopher 1911 births 1961 deaths People from West Byfleet British writers People educated at Lancing College Royal Army Service Corps officers Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers British Army personnel of World War II Alcohol-related deaths in England Drug-related deaths in England Barbiturates-related deaths