John Harris (1916-1991) who is known for a series of crime novels featuring the character Inspector Pel. He wrote 35 books under his own name, 27 under the name of Mark Hebden and a further 10, mostly of a military nature, under the pseudonym of Max Hennessy.
He was born in Yorkshire and attended Rotherham Grammar School. After leaving there he became a reporter on the Rotherham Advertiser before moving on to the Sheffield Telegraph. He also did some freelance work with a colleague in Cornwall and at various times worked as a cartoonist, travel courier and history teacher. In World War II he served as a corporal in the RAF and was seconded to the South African Air Force. Indeed, it was said that he served two navies and two air forces during the course of the war! He returned to the Sheffield Telegraph after the war where he was a political and comedy cartoonist and he remained with the paper until the mid-1950s.
He had his first novel, 'The Lonely Voyage' published in 1951 but it was in 1954 that he really came to the fore when his 1953 novel 'The Sea Shall Not Have Them' was made into a successful film. Thereafter he turned full-time to writing novels.
as John Harris
Modern Era Naval Fiction |
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| Series: n/a | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| WWII | The Sea Shall Not Have Them aka The Undaunted |
The crew of RAF Hudson is missing and RAF Air/Sea Rescue launch 7525 is searching for them |
| WWII | Corporal Cotton's Little War aka Cotton's War |
A novel of the Aegean campaign, 1941 |
as Max Hennessy
Written as by Max Hennessy
Modern Era Naval Fiction |
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| Series: Kelly "Ginger" Maguire trilogy | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| WWI | The Lion at Sea | Midshipman Kelly Maguire is put to the test along with the might of the Royal Navy |
| The Dangerous Years | For Lt. Maguire new conflicts arise in Russia, the Mediterranean and the Far East | |
| Back to Battle | Maguire commands an escort group on the Murmansk run | |