author

Hugh McAlister

Known mainly through fast-moving adventure stories for young readers, this elusive American writer imagined boys mastering radios, airships, and other near-future inventions. Very little is firmly documented about the person behind the books, which gives the work an extra air of mystery.

3 Audiobooks

The Flight of the Silver Ship: Around the World Aboard a Giant Dirgible

The Flight of the Silver Ship: Around the World Aboard a Giant Dirgible

by Hugh McAlister

Stand By: The Story of a Boy's Achievement in Radio

Stand By: The Story of a Boy's Achievement in Radio

by Hugh McAlister

A Viking of the Sky: A Story of a Boy Who Gained Success in Aeronautics

A Viking of the Sky: A Story of a Boy Who Gained Success in Aeronautics

by Hugh McAlister

About the author

Hugh McAlister is an obscure American author best remembered for juvenile adventure fiction from around 1930. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction notes that the writer may even have been pseudonymous, and says only a small number of works can be confidently linked to the name.

Among the best-known titles are The Flight of the Silver Ship: Around the World Aboard a Giant Dirigible and Stand By: The Story of a Boy's Achievement in Radio, both published in 1930 by Saalfield. These books mix brisk, accessible storytelling with inventions that are just a little ahead of their time, especially in aviation and radio.

Because reliable biographical details are so scarce, McAlister is remembered more through the stories than through a well-recorded life. That makes the books especially interesting for readers who enjoy early twentieth-century boys' adventure fiction, vintage technology, and the playful edge where old-fashioned storytelling meets science fiction.