The Black Gang (Dodo Press)

Herman Cyril McNeile MC (1888-1937) was a British author, who published under the pen name Sapper. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1907 and was sent to France in 1914 when World War I broke out. McNeile saw action at both the First and the Second Battle of Ypres. He displayed considerable bravery, was awarded the Military Cross and was mentioned in dispatches. His first known published works were a series of short war stories based on his own experiences, published under the name Sapper in the Daily Mail newspaper. These stories were immediately successful and later sold over 200,000 copies within a year when republished in book-form. He was one of the most successful British popular authors of the Interwar period. In 1919, McNeile resigned from the army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and became a full-time author, publishing his first novel, Mufti, in that year. He is mainly remembered as the author of the ten Bulldog Drummond books the first of which was published in 1920. These brought him public recognition and considerable financial success.