Nevil Shute is the pen-name of Nevil Shute Norway, an English aeronautical engineer who moved his family to Australia after World War 2 and became one of our most famous novelists. He started his adult life working as an engineer with the de Havilland Aircraft Company and soon moved  to Vickers Ltd, where he was involved with the development of airships until the fatal airship crash of 1930. In 1931, Shute joined A. Hessell Tiltman to found the aircraft construction company Airspeed Ltd. This company ultimately developed the Airspeed Oxford, which became the standard advanced multi- engined trainer for the RAF and the British Commonwealth.

The literary career of Nevil Shute began with his first published novel, “Marazan”, in

1 926. He wrote regularly and published a novel  every two years until the 1950s, except for the six-year period it took to establish Airspeed Ltd.

The early novels of Shute were centred around his flying adventures and knowledge of engineering. With the onset of World War 2, his range of plots developed to take into account stories of struggles during wartime action [cf.” Pied Piper” and “A Town like Alice”]. Post World War 2, his story lines centred on Australia, where he had moved his family to in 1950.

Common themes in Shute’s prose include the importance of work, the breaking down of social barriers, the importance of social equality and the development of science in enhancing human life. He enjoyed the openness and individuality of Australian life, especially living on his farm south-east of Melbourne.

Nevil Shute published 24 novels and novellas, many of which were transformed into  big screen motion pictures. These included “On the Beach” starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner, “A Town Like Alice” with Bryan Brown, Helen Morse and Gordon Jackson, and “The Far Country”. “On the Beach” is considered a monumental work.

Shute’s autobiography “Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer” is a great read and highly recommended.