Crosbie Garstin

Born in Newlyn, Cornwall, in 1887, he was the eldest son of painter Norman Garstin and grew up in an artistic household. Before settling into literary success, he lived an unusually wide-ranging life, working in North America and later in southern Africa, experiences that helped give his writing its strong sense of movement and lived detail.

He wrote poetry, travel books, and novels, and is especially remembered for the Penhale trilogy, a popular series of historical novels set in 18th-century Cornwall. His work often draws on adventure, the sea, and far-traveled settings, blending romance and action with a clear feeling for place.

During the First World War he served in the British Army, and after the war he continued to write prolifically. His life ended early and tragically in 1930 after a boating accident in the Salcombe estuary, a loss that has added to the air of mystery around a writer whose life was nearly as dramatic as his books.