Wouk was born into a wealthy family on May 27, 1915, in New York City. He graduated from Columbia University in 1934. His first job was writing for radio in New York, and then scripts for Fred Allen from 1936 to 1941. When war broke out, he put his writing talents into the service of the U.S. government and became a "dollar-a-year man," writing the U.S. Treasury Department's radio plays promoting the sale of war bonds.

In 1942, he joined the U.S. Navy and served aboard the USS Zane and the USS Southard, both minesweepers in the South Pacific. While aboard ship in 1943, Wouk-like the character Tom Keefer-began to write fiction. The experience aboard minesweepers was reflected in The Caine Mutiny. The novel was not autobiographical, except for the shared experience of Navy duty. It was, however, a staunch defense of the American ideals Wouk evokes in all of...