Forum Pakistan

Bolitho, Hector (1898-1974) NovelistlHistorian/Biographer. Hector Bolitho was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He was a reporter on a New Zealand newspaper at seventeen and published his first novel at twenty-five. He travelled widely in Australia, Africa, Canada, America, Europe, and the Middle East.

By 1963 he had published fifty-two books of history, biography, and fiction in barely thirty-eight years. The longest he took to write a book was- Jinnah: Creator of Pakistan. It took him a little less than three years, including the period consumed by his travels in the subcontinent and interviews and research in England. Jinnah was 'his best book for many years', remarked the Daily Telegraph (24 November 1954).

His writing is characterised by elegance, and his narrative engaging and absorbing. Above all, his approach is empathic, enabling him 'to get behind the mask' and unravel the intricacies of thought behind his subject's policies decisions and predilections. All these attributes seem tailored to unravelling the human side of the subject under study, and sketch in a convincing portrait.

WORKS: 'Albert The Good', London, 1932; 'Edward VIII. His Life and Reign', London, 1937; Jinnah: Creator of Pakistan, London, 1954.