author
Alan Bott
1893–1952
A wartime pilot who turned his eye to books and journalism, this British writer brought first-hand adventure to the page. He is also remembered for helping shape modern paperback publishing as the founder of Pan Books.
2 Audiobooks
Cavalry of the Clouds
by Alan Bott
About the author
Born in 1893, Alan Bott was a British writer, journalist, editor, and publisher whose life ranged far beyond the desk. He served in the First World War as a flying ace, and that experience fed into memoirs and travel writing noted for their immediacy and sense of movement.
Bott wrote books including Cavalry of the Clouds and Eastern Nights—and Flights, drawing on wartime service and travel. His career later expanded into journalism and publishing, and in 1944 he founded Pan Books, which became an important name in British paperbacks.
He died in 1952, but his reputation still rests on that unusual combination of lived adventure and literary energy: part airman, part man of letters, and part publishing pioneer.