Biography
Synonymous with espionage and military thrillers, Tom Clancy is an American novelist who changed the literary world with his highly detailed and realistic novels. Born in Baltimore in 1947, Clancy was an indifferent student; he changed his college major from Physics to English Literature because he thought it would be easier, but still spent much of his time pursuing his interests rather than studying. Graduating (just) in 1969, he joined the Army Reserves Officers’ Training Corps but was rejected on medical grounds, before starting work at an insurance company.
It was while working at the insurance agency that he started his literary career, writing novels in his spare time. In 1982 he started work on his first novel, which was published in 1984; The Hunt For Red October was a critically acclaimed hit, and earned him praise from military officials and US President Ronald Reagan for its accuracy.
Featuring CIA Analyst Jack Ryan, it would become the first in a phenomenally popular series that has been adapted into a series of blockbuster films. As well as the Jack Ryan series, Clancy also wrote The Campus series as well as several standalone novels.
Since his death in 2013 from heart failure, the Jack Ryan series has been continued by his family through authors Mark Greaney and Marc Cameron.
With 17 of his novels topping the New York Times bestsellers chart, Clancy’s timely and high-tech military thrillers have been enthralling readers for decades. His novel Clear & Present Danger sold over 1.5 million copies in hardback, making it the number 1 bestselling hardback novel of the 1980s, while Ubisoft have been making video games based on his books since 1996.
Full of heart stopping action, well-rounded characters, realistic technical details and authentic military elements, the novels of Tom Clancy continue to set the standard for high-octane thrillers that tackle contemporary threats and issues.
