author
H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
1888–1937
A former British army officer who turned wartime experience into fast-moving adventure fiction, he became one of the most popular thriller writers of the interwar years. He is still best remembered as the creator of Bulldog Drummond, the hard-driving hero who helped define the modern action thriller.
8 Audiobooks
No Man's Land
by H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
The Dinner Club
by H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
The Man in Ratcatcher, and Other Stories
by H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
Men, Women and Guns
by H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
Mufti
by H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
The Valley of the Shadow
by H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
Bull-dog Drummond: The Adventures of a Demobilised Officer Who Found Peace Dull
by H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
The seven missionaries
by H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile
About the author
Born in Bodmin, Cornwall, on September 28, 1888, Herman Cyril McNeile wrote under the names H. C. McNeile and, more famously, Sapper. He served in the British Army and drew on his First World War experience for early stories that were published during the war, giving his fiction an immediacy that helped it find a wide audience.
His biggest success came with Bulldog Drummond in 1920, the first in a series about a demobilized officer in search of danger and purpose. The books made him a major popular author between the wars, and Drummond became one of the era's best-known adventure heroes, spreading into stage and screen adaptations as well.
McNeile died in 1937, but his influence on thriller fiction lasted well beyond his lifetime. Readers who enjoy brisk plots, high stakes, and the tough, clubland flavor of early 20th-century British adventure stories often find his work a fascinating step in the evolution of the genre.