The Hero Maker: A Biography of Paul Brickhill: The Australian behind the legendary stories The Dam Busters, The Great Escape and Reach for t

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The Dam Busters, The Great Escape and Reach for the Sky were all written by Paul Brickhill, an Australian hero of WWII. 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth and the 25th anniversary of his death. In 1953, Paul Brickhill was the highest-earning author in Britain, with books including The Dam Busters, The Great Escape, and Reach for the Sky u the story of legless fighter pilot Douglas Bader. All became hugely successful movies. Only years later would Brickhill recognise his formula for success: in dour postwar times we all needed heroes. Today, Brickhill's legacy endures: his war books continue to sell, the BBC has announced plans to make a miniseries of The Great Escape and Lord of the Rings producer Peter Jackson plans a remake of The Dam Busters. Stephen Dando-Collins, award-winning Australian military historian, novelist and biographer has written the first biography of Paul Brickhill, a man who lived a big and exciting life and died a quiet and lonely man in Sydney in 1991 aged 74.