fought in the Battle of the Somme. Later, Maxwell was promoted to Honorary Captain for his duties to crown and country. He then moved to Mametz Wood which he nicknames ‘Death Valley’. In a routine transportation of equipment, a shell exploded a bomb pile which had previously been dropped off at the front line by Maxwell. Luckily, he reported being uninjured in the blast, without a scratch to his uniform. This was his first brush with death. His second brush with death happened in the trenches with his commanding officer. They hit the floor as the shell hit the trench, and the two men landed down in the dirt. Maxwell discusses in his autobiography how he was sure he had a hole in his back, although yet again escaped unscathed. In 1917, Maxwell’s military career came to an end when he was ordered home by his commander and friend, Reggie Barnes, on the grounds of health; as Barnes was concerned that Maxwell would not survive another winter on the western front. In 1918, Maxwell was officially out of the army. He served from August 1914 to 1915 in training; shortly after being sent to the western front in 1915–1917 without a break or a return to home. Later life Maxwell was the chairman of the Society of Authors until 1928 and later chairman of the National Book Council. He had strong views on modern novelists, believing that they lacked any understanding of the motivations of men and women. He described their portrayal of love-making as having "no more charm and enticement than cattle-farming". Maxwell liked to collect 'detail' on his subjects and was particularly interested in the prevailing conditions of English shop-life and employment of girls in towns. Maxwell was taken ill at a committee meeting of the Royal Literary Fund and died three week later at his home in Ashley Gardens, Westminster, London on the 4 August 1938. Bibliography Maxwell wrote his first novel at the age of 35 and produced 38 novels over the next 37 years. (Please note: some of the publication dates may not be for the original British edition, but for a later American edition; most, if not all, of Maxwell's works were published on both sides of the Atlantic, some have been translated as well). All works are in chronological order. Novels References External links 1866 births 1938 deaths 20th-century British novelists Royal Fusiliers