After the divorce of his parents, Forester moved to London with his mother and was subsequently educated at Dulwich College. He then studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, but left before receiving a degree. Because of medical reasons, he was unsuccessful in an attempt to join the military during World War I. He embarked on a writing career around 1921 and in 1922 produced his first work, Victor Emmanuel II, using his newly adopted pseudonym. He was very productive during the 1920s and 1930s and very successful. In 1935, he produced one of his best works in The African Queen, later to be made into the successful film of the same name in 1951; directed by John Huston and starring Humphry Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. He is probably best-remembered for his 12-book Horatio Hornblower series which he began in 1937 and ended in 1962. During the Second World War, Forester worked for the British Information Service in the United States, writing propaganda. He settled in California and remained there following the war. His many works include Payment Deferred (1926), Death to the French (1932), Poo Poo and the Dragons (1942), The Barbary Pirates (1943), Lord Hornblower (1946), Lieutenant Hornblower (1952), Hunting the Bismarck (1959), Hornblower and the Hotspur (1962) and The Man in the Yellow Raft (1969 Posthumous).