Ronald W. Clark

Ronald William Clark (2 November 1916 – 9 March 1987) was a British author of biography, fiction and non-fiction.

Born in London, Clark was educated King's College School. In 1933, he embarked on a career as a journalist, and served as a war correspondent during the Second World War after being turned down for military service on medical grounds. As a war correspondent, Clark landed on Juno Beach with the Canadians on D-Day. He followed the war until the end, and remained in Germany to report on the major War Crimes trials.

After returning to Britain in 1948, Clark embarked on a career as an author. He wrote extensively on subjects ranging from mountain climbing (over a dozen titles), the atomic bomb, Balmoral Castle, and world explorers, as well as novels of alternate history. He also wrote a number of biographies of a diverse range of historical figures, including: Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Sigmund Freud, J.B.S. Haldane, V. I. Lenin, Bertrand Russell, Ernst Chain, Edward Appleton and William F. Friedman. V. I. Lenin was Clark's last biography and came out the year following his death.

Selected works

• The Day the Rope Broke: The Story of the First Ascent of the Matterhorn (1965)
• Queen Victoria's Bomb (science fiction, 1967)
• JBS: The Life and Work of J.B.S. Haldane (1968) ISBN 0-340-04444-6
• The Last Year of the Old World (US: The Bomb That Failed) (Alternate history, 1970) ISBN 0-224-61778-8
• Einstein: The Life and Times (1972) ISBN 0-380-01159-X
• Edison: The Man Who Made The Future (1977) ISBN 0-399-11952-3.
• The Man Who Broke Purple: the Life of Colonel William F. Friedman, Who Deciphered the Japanese Code in World War II (1977)
• The Greatest Power on Earth: The Story of Nuclear Fission (1980) ISBN 0-283-98715-4
• Bertrand Russell and His World (1981) ISBN 0-500-13070-1
• Balmoral, Queen Victoria's Highland Home (1981) ISBN 0-500-25078-2
• The Survival of Charles Darwin (1984) ISBN 0-380-69991-5
• Works of Man: A History of Invention and Engineering from the Pyramids to the Space Shuttle (1985) ISBN 0-670-80483-5, ISBN 9780670804832
• Vladimir Lenin (published posthumously) (1988) ISBN 0060916982
• The Royal Albert Hall (1958)
• Sir Julian Huxley (1960)
• Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1960)
• Sir John Cockcroft (1960)
• Montgomery of Alamein (1960)
• The Birth of the Bomb: The Untold Story of Britain's Part in the Weapon That Changed the World (1961)
• The Rise of the Boffins (1962)
• Sir Winston Churchill (1962) ISBN 978-0460069113
• Great Moments in Espionage (1963)
• Battle for Britain: Sixteen weeks that changed the course of history (1964)
• Sir Henry Tizard (1965)
• The Huxleys (1968) ISBN 0434135801
• Sir Edward Appleton (1971) Pergamon Press
• Biography of the Nuffield Foundation (1972)
• The Role of the Bomber (1977)
• Man Who Broke 'Purple': Life of the World's Greatest Cryptologist, William F. Friedman (1977) ISBN 0552109584
• War Winners (1979) ISBN 0283985038
• Freud: the man and the cause (1980)
• Benjamin Franklin (1983) ISBN 0756776139
• Ernst Chain: Penicillin and Beyond (1985)

References

• Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 100. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.
• Clark, Ronald W. (1980). The Greatest Power on Earth. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-98715-4.