born Oct. 2, 1904, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, Eng.
died April 3, 1991, Vevey, Switz.
British author.
After studying at the University of Oxford, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1926. Beginning с 1930 he worked principally as a freelance journalist for several decades, during which he traveled widely. Stamboul Train (1932; also titled Orient Express ; film, 1934) was the first of his "entertainments," thrillers with considerable moral complexity and depth; others included A Gun for Sale (1936; also titled This Gun for Hire ; film, 1942), The Confidential Agent (1939; film, 1945), and The Third Man (1949; film, 1949). His finest novels
Brighton Rock (1938; film, 1948), The Power and the Glory (1940; film, 1962), The Heart of the Matter (1948; film, 1954), and The End of the Affair (1951; film, 1999)
all have distinctly religious themes. Several of his novels set in "third-world" nations on the brink of political upheaval were also adapted as films.