Leon Garfield
b. 1921 – d. 1996 · 70 books
Biography
Leon Garfield was a British writer of fiction. He is best known for children's historical novels, though he also wrote for adults.
Garfield's novels for children all have historical settings, mainly in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The novels were greatly influenced by both Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Garfield wrote his first book, the pirate novel _Jack Holborn_, for adult readers, but an editor saw its potential as a children's novel and persuaded Garfield to adapt it for younger readers. His second book, _Devil-in-the-Fog_, was the first of several historical adventure novels, typically set late in the eighteenth century and featuring a character of humble origins pushed into the midst of a threatening intrigue.
Besides adventure stories for various ages, some of Garfield’s books were retellings of famous stories, such as Greek myths and the works of Shakespeare (later animated for television). In 1980 he also wrote an ending for _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, a book Dickens left unfinished at his death in 1870.
Garfield's first marriage was short lived. Having met during WWII, Garfield's second marriage was to Vivien Alcock, a well-known children's author. In 1964 they adopted a baby girl whom they called Jane after Jane Austen, one of their favorite writers.
Garfield was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1985. On 2 June 1996 he died of cancer at the Whittington Hospital, where he had once worked.
*-- adapted from Wikipedia*
Garfield's novels for children all have historical settings, mainly in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The novels were greatly influenced by both Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Garfield wrote his first book, the pirate novel _Jack Holborn_, for adult readers, but an editor saw its potential as a children's novel and persuaded Garfield to adapt it for younger readers. His second book, _Devil-in-the-Fog_, was the first of several historical adventure novels, typically set late in the eighteenth century and featuring a character of humble origins pushed into the midst of a threatening intrigue.
Besides adventure stories for various ages, some of Garfield’s books were retellings of famous stories, such as Greek myths and the works of Shakespeare (later animated for television). In 1980 he also wrote an ending for _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, a book Dickens left unfinished at his death in 1870.
Garfield's first marriage was short lived. Having met during WWII, Garfield's second marriage was to Vivien Alcock, a well-known children's author. In 1964 they adopted a baby girl whom they called Jane after Jane Austen, one of their favorite writers.
Garfield was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1985. On 2 June 1996 he died of cancer at the Whittington Hospital, where he had once worked.
*-- adapted from Wikipedia*
Books by Leon Garfield
Mirror, mirror
Shakespeare - the animated tales
A l'enseigne du diable
Black Jack (Sunburst Book)
La Rose de décembre
Le Printemps des Dieux. Le Roman de la mythologie grecque
Six More Shakespeare Stories (New Windmill)
Fair's Fair (Red Storybooks)
Sabre-tooth Sandwich (Red Storybooks)
The Stolen Watch
Six Shakespeare Stories (New Windmill)
Leon Garfield raconte Shakespeare
Smith (Lythway Book)
Smith (Lythway Book)
The Pleasure Garden (Lions Tra
The Pleasure Garden (Lions Tracks)
The Saracen maid
The Saracen Maid (Red Storyboo
The Saracen Maid (Red Storybook Set)
The penny whistle
Revolution! (Lion Teen Tracks)
Young Nick and Jubilee
Empty Sleeve, The
Empty Sleeve, The
Night of the Comet, The
Night of the Comet, The
Strange Affair/adel/
Strange Affair/adel/
The Blewcoat Boy
De Decemberroos
Guilt and Gingerbread
The Wedding Ghost
Illustrated Treasury of Modern Literature for Children
Six Apprentices (New Windmill)
The Apprentices (Apprentices #1-12)
The king in the garden
Apprentices Garfield
Apprentices Garfield
King Nimrod's tower
The House of Cards
John Diamond
Black Jack (M-Books)
Black Jack (M-Books)
Bostock and Harris or the night of the comet
Garfield's Apprentices Book 4 (Apprentices #10-12)
Garfield's Apprentices. Book T
Garfield's Apprentices. Book Two
The night of the comet
The Enemy (Apprentices #12)
The Filthy Beast (Apprentices #11)
A swag of stories
A Swag Of Stories - Australian
A Swag Of Stories - Australian Stories
Labour in Vain (Apprentices #6)
Rosy Starling (Apprentices #8)
The Dumb Cake (Apprentices #9)
The Fool (Apprentices #7)
The Valentine (Apprentices #5)
Tom Titmarsh's Devil (Apprentices #10)
House of Hanover
Mirror, Mirror (Apprentices #2)
Moss and Blister (Apprentices #3)
The Cloak (Apprentices #4)
The House of Hanover (Mirror o
The House of Hanover (Mirror of Britain)
The Lamplighter's Funeral (Apprentices #1)
The Prisoners of September
The sound of caoches
The sound of caoches
Lucifer Wilkins Long Ago
Lucifer Wilkins Long Ago
The golden shadow
Child o' War
The captain's watch
Devil in the Fog (Pleasure in
Devil in the Fog (Pleasure in Reading)
El misterio del pirata
El misterio del pirata
Mr Corbett's ghost and other stories
The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris (Harris and Bostock #1)
The god beneath the sea
The restless ghost
The restless ghost
Boy and the Monkey Long Ago
Boy and the Monkey Long Ago
Mister Corbett's Ghost
The Night of the Comet (Harris and Bostock #2)