Kenneth Lewis Roberts

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Roberts, Kenneth [Lewis] (1885–1957), Maine novelist, graduated from Cornell (1908), became a journalist, and later achieved recognition as a vivid and accurate historical novelist. His fiction includes Arundel (1930), the story of Benedict Arnold's expedition against Quebec; The Lively Lady (1931), dealing with the War of 1812; Rabble in Arms (1933) and Captain Caution (1934), sequels to Arundel; Northwest Passage (1937), the story of Robert Rogers, the campaigns of his Rangers against the Indians, and his later attempts to find a Northwest Passage; Oliver Wiswell (1940), a tale of the American Revolution as seen by a colonial Loyalist soldier and historian; Lydia Bailey (1947), a picaresque romance about a young Maine lawyer's pursuit of a girl through Toussaint's uprising in Haiti, the Tripolitan War, and political machinations of the Federal era; and Boon Island (1956), based on the shipwreck of 18th‐century Britons off Maine's coast. He also wrote For Authors Only (1935), essays showing his salty humor; Trending into Maine (1938, revised 1944), including writings of others on his native state; March to Quebec (1938), compiling source materials of Arundel; I Wanted To Write (1949), on literary problems; several books on his belief in dowsing, including Seventh Sense (1953) and Water Unlimited (1957); and The Battle of Cowpens (1958), a history of a Revolutionary War engagement.

Kenneth Lewis Roberts 1885–1957, American author, b. Kennebunk, Maine, grad. Cornell, 1908. Well known as staff correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post and as an author of travel books, Roberts retired in 1928 to write the Chronicles of Arundel, a series of American historical novels; the series eventually included Arundel (1930), The Lively Lady (1931), Rabble in Arms (1933), and Captain Caution (1934). All Roberts's novels are colorful, exciting, and historically accurate. His later novels include Northwest Passage (1937), Oliver Wiswell (1940), Lydia Bailey (1946), and Boon Island (1956).

Bibliography: See the autobiographical I Wanted to Write (1949).