F. Britten (Frederick Britten) Austin

Frederick Britten Austin (1885–1941), usually published as F. Britten Austin, was an English author and playwright. Archival and reference sources identify him as a British writer born in Mile End, London, and note that he served in the First World War, reaching the rank of captain.

He began publishing fiction before the war; his first novel is commonly listed as The Shaping of Lavinia (1911). Later, he became especially associated with writing about warfare and its human effects, but he also worked across a wide range of popular forms, including historical fiction, adventure, drama, and speculative fiction.

Reference guides describe him as a notably versatile writer. In addition to war books and plays, he wrote linked historical and anthropological narratives such as A Saga of the Sea and A Saga of the Sword, showing an interest in big spans of human experience as well as vivid individual stories.