Born Harry Patterson on July 27, 1929, Jack Higgins has become a world renowned author. Higgins' childhood in Belfast, Ireland was filled with political strife. His family had a strong political background, and he frequently experienced the worst aspect of the troubles during his youth. He moved to Leeds with no qualifications, and from there held a succession of jobs; including two years in the NCO as a Royal House Guard along the East German border during the Cold War. He was then applied and was accepted as an external student at London University, while working at various jobs including a circus tent-hand, and a tram-conductor. At the school he gained a degree in sociology and social psychology and went into teaching. All this was before becoming a full time author.

Higgins was writing long before his book The Eagle Has Landed became a New York best seller. Since then...