John Prebble
John Edward Curtis Prebble, FRSL, OBE (23 June 1915 – 30 January 2001) was an English journalist, novelist, documentarian and popular historian. He is best known for his studies of Scottish history.
Early life
He was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, but in 1921 he emigrated with his parents to Saskatchewan, Canada, where his father had a brother. Returning to Edmonton with his family when aged 12, he attended the Latymer School. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain but abandoned it after World War II.
The High Girders
He became a journalist in 1934 and served during World War II with the Royal Artillery. His wartime experiences led to his novels, Where the Sea Breaks (1944), and The Edge of Darkness, published in 1947. His Canadian prairie experience influenced two of his works, The Buffalo Soldier an historical novel about the American West, and Culloden, about the 1746 battle which resulted in the defeat of the Jacobite uprising. The story of Battle of Culloden had been part of the family lore when he grew up in the predominantly Scottish township of Sutherland, in rural Saskatchewan. His interest in the American West was also inspired by the fact that part of his family lineage was Native Canadian: his 1958 book, My Great-Aunt, Appearing Day, and other stories tells of a Native American relative; this story appeared as the film White Feather in 1955.
