Richard Adams

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Richard George Adams
Richard Adams reads from Watership Down at exhibition of Aldo Galli paintings in Whitchurch, Hampshire, UK
Born	9 May 1920 (1920-05-09) (age 89) Newbury, Berkshire
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	English
Notable work(s)	Watership Down
Influences Ronald Lockley

Richard George Adams (born 10 May, 1920) is an English novelist who is best known as the author of Watership Down.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Author 3 Public figure 4 Personal life 5 Books 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Early years

Adams was born in Newbury, Berkshire on 10 May 1920. He was educated at Horris Hill School from 1929 until 1933. He then went to Bradfield College from 1933 until 1938. In 1938 he went up to Worcester College, Oxford to read Modern History. Shortly after the declaration of war between the UK and Nazi Germany, in July 1940, Adams was called up to join the British Army in which he served until his release in 1946. He served in the Middle East and in India but was lucky enough to see no action against either the Germans or the Japanese.

After his release from service in 1946, Adams returned to Worcester to continue his studies for a further two years. He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and of Master of Arts in 1953.^[1]

After his graduation in 1948 he joined the English Civil Service and held the rank of Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, later part of the Department of the Environment. It was during this time that he began writing fiction in his spare time.

[edit] Author

In 1972, Adams published Watership Down, which gained him international acclaim and established him as among the foremost English writers, with several books published, not only in the UK, but widely in a number of foreign countries. In 1974, following publication of his second novel, Shardik, he left the Civil Service to become a full-time author.

He originally began telling the story of Watership Down to his two daughters, and they insisted he publish it as a book. It took two years to write and was rejected by 7 publishers. Over the next few years Watership Down sold over a million copies worldwide. Watership Down has become a modern classic and in 1972 was awarded both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Award for Children's Fiction. To date, Adams' best-known work has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

[edit] Public figure

During 1982 Adams served one year as President of the RSPCA.

[edit] Personal life

At one point Adams served as Writer in Residence at the University of Florida.^[2] and at Hollins College in Virginia.

He also made a voyage through the Antarctic in the company of Ronald Lockley, the well-known ornithologist.

He now lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in Whitchurch, Hampshire, within 10 miles (16 km) of his birthplace. Their daughters, to whom Adams originally related the tales that became Watership Down, are Juliet and Rosamond.

[edit] Books

• Watership Down (1972) ISBN 978-0-7432-7770-9
• Shardik (1974) ISBN 978-0-380-00516-1
• Nature Through the Seasons (1975) ISBN 978-0-7226-5007-3
• The Tyger Voyage (1976) ISBN 978-0-394-40796-8
• The Plague Dogs (1977) ISBN 978-0-345-49402-3
• The Adventures & Brave Deeds Of The Ship's Cat On The Spanish Maine: Together With The Most Lamentable Losse Of The Alcestis & Triumphant Firing Of The Port Of Chagres (1977) (also published as The Ship's Cat) ISBN 978-0-224-01441-0
• Nature Day and Night (1978) ISBN 0-7226-5359-X (with Max Hooper)
• The Girl in a Swing (1980) ISBN 978-0-7139-1407-8
• The Iron Wolf and Other Stories (1980), published in the US as The Unbroken Web: Stories and Fables. color Illustrations by Yvonne Gilbert, b&w illustrations by Jennifer Campbell. ISBN 978-0-517-40375-4
• The Phoenix Tree (1980, a collection by various authors, includes "The Story of El-ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inle" from Watership Down) ISBN 978-0-380-76380-1
• The Legend of Te Tuna (1982) ISBN 978-0-283-99393-0
• Voyage Through the Antarctic (1982; with Ronald Lockley), Allen Lane ISBN 0-7139-1396-7
• Maia (1984) ISBN 978-0-517-62993-2
• A Nature Diary (1985) ISBN 0-670-80105-4 / 978-0-670-80105-3
• The Bureaucats (1985) ISBN 0-670-80120-8, ISBN 978-0-670-80120-6
• Traveller (1988) ISBN 978-0-394-57055-6
• The Day Gone By (autobiography) (1990) ISBN 978-0-679-40117-9
• Tales from Watership Down (collection of linked stories) (1996) ISBN 978-0-380-72934-0
• The Outlandish Knight (1999) ISBN 978-0-7278-7033-9
• Daniel (2006) ISBN 1-903110-37-8

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Richard Adams at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Richard Adams at the Internet Book List
• Richard Adams at the Internet Book Database of Fiction
• Richard Adams At Eighty
• Wrecking Ball Press publishers of 'Daniel'

v • d • e Works by Richard Adams Novels Watership Down (1972) · Shardik (1974) · The Plague Dogs (1977) · The Girl in a Swing (1980) · The Legend of Te Tuna (1982) · Maia (1984) · The Bureaucats (1985) · Traveller (1988) · The Outlandish Knight (1999) · Daniel (2006) Short stories "The Story of El-ahrairah" (1980) · "The Black Rabbit of Inle" (1980) Short story collections The Iron Wolf and Other Stories (1980, or The Unbroken Web) · Tales from Watership Down (1996) Poetry The Tyger Voyage (1976) · The Ship's Cat (1977) Non-fiction Nature Through the Seasons (1975) · Nature Day and Night (1978, with Max Hooper) · Voyage Through the Antarctic (1982, with Ronald Lockley) · A Nature Diary (1985) · The Day Gone By (1990)