David Howarth

David Armine Howarth was a British naval officer, boatbuilder, historian, and author, born in 1912 and died in 1991. After studying at Cambridge, he worked as a BBC radio war correspondent early in World War II before joining the Royal Navy.

During the war he became involved with the Special Operations Executive and helped set up the Shetland Bus, the secret route linking Scotland with occupied Norway. That firsthand experience shaped some of his best-known writing, including We Die Alone and other books about wartime resistance, survival, and naval history.

His nonfiction is often praised for combining careful research with the pace of an adventure story. Even when writing about large historical events, he kept the focus on the people inside them, which helps his books still feel immediate and gripping today.