Fowler on Ambler, Shute.

Christopher Fowler's latest in his Forgotten Authors series for The Independent focuses on Nevil Shute and Eric Ambler, although he does acknowledge that they still have a presence in today's literary world. One aspect of Shute's oeuvre he fails to mention: aeronautical engineer Shute's No Highway (1948; filmed as No Highway in the Sky, 1951), which sounded a prophetic warning against the dangers of metal fatigue in planes.

About the image: Jimmy Stewart in No Highway in the Sky, 1951, dir. Henry Koster

Happy birthday, Nevil Shute.

Aeronautical engineer and novelist Nevil Shute was born today in Ealing in 1899. His works include the apocalyptic On the Beach (1957); his prophetic warning about the dangers of metal fatigue in planes, No Highway (1948; film 1951); and the World War II-era love story A Town Like Alice (1950), made into a solid miniseries with Helen Morse and Bryan Brown.