Shute the Messenger

A fascinating study of successful author, pioneering aviator, and skilful engineer, Nevil Shute. Shute the Messenger traces his early life in the UK describing his lifelong passion for air travel from early airships to fixed wing machines. His engineering and organisational skills made him an asset to the growing industry and kept him grounded during the Second World War. Eventually with Shute as sole pilot he and a friend flew a tiny plane across the world to Australia where he settled with his family in the late 1940’s. His story telling ability, fuelled by his diverse experiences, inspired his books leading to a successful writing career. The best known titles being A Town Like Alice and On the Beach, later made into a film with Ava Gardner. In Shute the Messenger Graham Fricke presents us with a fully realised portrait of Shute, meeting his flaws head on. With the backdrop of 20th Century history interwoven with accounts of Shute’s life and writing career Shute the Messenger is a compelling biography of a remarkable man.