Derek Robinson

Derek Robinson is a policeman’s son from a council estate who crossed the class barrier by going to Cambridge, where he got a degree in history and learned to write badly. A stint in advertising in London and New York changed that, and in 1971 he finally got it right when Goshawk Squadron was shorlisted for the Booker Prize. This novel of the Royal Flying Corps led to a sequel, Hornet’s Sting, and War Story. His equally acclaimed trilogy of World War Two novels are Piece of Cake, A Good Clean Fight and Damned Good Show. His other novels include The Eldorado Network and Artillery of Lies. Derek Robinson has also published non-fiction on a variety of themes, from the laws of rugby to the nuclear tests on Christmas Island in the 1950s. His most recent book is Invasion, 1940 a revisionist history of the Battle of Britain. He lives in Bristol.