Robert Leeson
Robert Arthur Leeson was an English author, mainly known for his children's books. Before becoming a writer, he worked as Literary Editor of the left-wing British newspaper the Morning Star.
Leeson was a prolific writer, having had more than 70 books for young people published between 1973 and 2003. His books include several historical novels, such as Beyond the Dragon Prow, about a crippled Viking boy. Leeson produced a trilogy about a British family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: Maroon Boy, Bess, and The White Horse. The White Horse revolves around a young man who fights on the Roundhead side during the English Civil War. Leeson also wrote The Third Class Genie , and the science-fiction Time Rope and Zania Experiment series. Leeson wrote social realist novels such as It's My Life, about a teenage girl who has to look after her family after her mother walks out on them. Silver's Revenge is a humorous sequel to Treasure Island, and Candy for the King is a fairytale about a giant influenced by Voltaire's Candide. Leeson's Reading and Righting: the past, present and future of Fiction for the young is a history of children's literature. He also wrote for radio, television and the theatre.