A. E. W. Mason (Alfred Edward Woodley) Biography

British novelist, born in Dulwich, educated at Oxford University. After failing as an actor he became a successful novelist; he was also a Member of Parliament (1906–10). He is best remembered as the author of The Four Feathers (1902; filmed 1939) in which the protagonist, Harry Feversham, redeems himself as a hero against accusations of cowardice by his fellow officers. He also wrote historical novels, including Fire over England (1936), filmed with Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, and Flora Robson in 1937; Konigsmarck (1938), the story of the Swedish lover of Sophie Dorothea, wife of King George I (also filmed); and Musk and Amber (1942), a tale of the world of the castrato singer in the late eighteenth century. His many other popular works include the series of novels featuring Inspector Hanaud, a French detective, which began with At the Villa Rose (1910).