J. G. Ballard was born on November 15, 1930, in Shanghai. Like Jim, the protagonist of Empire of the Sun, Ballard was a child when World War II began; and, like Jim, he wandered the city of Shanghai after being separated from his parents. However, he was eventually reunited with them in Lunghua prison camp, where the three remained prisoners until the camp was liberated by the American army.
Ballard left China when he was sixteen and later studied medicine at Cambridge University from 1949 to 1951. He became a regular contributor to New Worlds magazine. From 1954 to 1957 he served as a pilot for the Royal Air Force.
Ballard married Helen Matthews in 1953 and had three children. Her death in 1964 devastated him and death became a recurring theme in his writing. He.....
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