author
Evan John David
1877–1961
Raised in a Welsh immigrant family and largely self-educated, this American writer built an unusually varied career that ranged from newspaper work to aviation writing and historical fiction. His books reflect a practical curiosity about technology and a strong feel for the people and places of early America.
1 Audiobook
Aircraft : its development in war and peace and its commercial future
by Evan John David
About the author
Born in 1877 and dying in 1961, Evan John David was the son of Welsh parents who had come from the coal fields of South Wales to the mining region around Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. According to biographical material preserved with his later novel As Runs the Glass, he had only a small amount of formal schooling and educated himself largely through reading and work.
That self-made background shaped a wide-ranging career. He worked as a miner in his youth, later became a newspaper reporter, and eventually wrote on aviation as well as fiction. His 1919 book Aircraft: Its Development in War and Peace and Its Commercial Future shows his interest in the fast-changing world of flight just after World War I.
David also turned to historical storytelling. As Runs the Glass, published in the 1940s, is set in early America and suggests his lasting interest in maritime life, regional history, and ordinary people facing large events. Even with a modest published record that is difficult to document in detail today, he stands out as a deeply self-taught writer who moved across very different worlds and brought that experience into his books.