Leon Uris

Leon Uris , 1924-2003, American novelist, b. Baltimore, Md. Uris, who wrote many popular novels, is best known for the runaway best seller Exodus (1958), a fictional account of the early history of Israel that was eventually translated into dozens of languages. Meticulously researched, much of his fiction takes place in various historical periods of the 20th cent. His other novels include Battle Cry (1953), The Angry Hills (1955), Mila 18 (1961), Topaz (1967), QB VII (1970), Trinity (1976), The Haj (1984), Redemption (1995), and A God in Ruins (1999). Uris also wrote screenplays, notably for the classic Western Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957), and many of his novels were made into films.

Uris, Leon (1924–2003), Baltimore‐born author of very popular novels that include Battle Cry (1953), about the U.S. Marines in World War II, with whom he served as a private (1942–46); The Angry Hills (1955), treating the Palestine Brigade's service in Greece; Exodus (1958), the tale of the creation of Israel; Mila 18 (1961), about the revolt of the Warsaw ghetto against the Nazis; Armageddon (1964), set in Berlin after World War II; Topaz (1967), a romantic story of Soviet espionage in France; QBVII, about the trial of an American novelist in Queen's Bench 7 for libeling a Polish surgeon by contending he performed experimental sterilizations of Jews in a concentration camp; Trinity (1976), concerning conflicts in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1916 among Catholics, Protestants, and British gentry; The Haj (1984), treating modern Palestinians in relation to other Arabs and Israel; and Mitla Pass (1988), about an American novelist and screenwriter coming to Israel during the 1956 Sinai War and falling in love. Ireland: A Terrible Beauty (1975) is a work on contemporary Ireland, and Jerusalem: Song of Songs (1981) is a history of Israel, both books with photos by Leon's wife Jill.