It has often been said that Jeffrey Archer's career is reflected in his fiction--or, in some cases, that his fiction is reflected in his career. Both have attracted a lot of public attention and have become the center of much controversy. A man of boundless energy, Archer has walked the corridors of power with England's politicians and has earned a reputation as one of the most popular authors in both England and America. "The great contradiction of Jeffrey Archer's life," declares Bill Bryson in the New York Times Magazine, "is that the one thing he has tried hardest to do--become a successful politician--is the one thing he has most signally failed to accomplish."

Turns Energy into Success

Jeffrey Archer was born in England's West Country--Somerset--in Mark, a small village slightly south of the resort town of Weston-super- Mare. His father, William, had been a soldier and had worked...