Charles Nordhoff
An adventurer who traded World War I dogfights for the South Pacific, co-authoring the definitive fictional saga of the HMS Bounty mutiny.
1887–1947 (age 60)·American novelist·Birthday: February 1·The Lost Generation
Biography
Charles Nordhoff lived the kind of life that begged to be written about. Born in London but raised in America, he volunteered as an ambulance driver and then a pilot in the Lafayette Flying Corps during the First World War, an experience he later chronicled. Disillusioned by the mechanized horror of war, he sought escape and found it in Tahiti, where he settled in the 1920s. It was there he forged a literary partnership with fellow expatriate and former flyer James Norman Hall. Together, they turned meticulous historical research into sweeping narrative, most famously in 'The Bounty Trilogy.' Nordhoff provided the structural rigor and vivid settings, drawing from his deep knowledge of the Pacific. While 'Mutiny on the Bounty' became a cultural phenomenon, his body of work extended beyond the trilogy to other tales of the sea and adventure. He remained a man of two worlds: the disciplined chronicler and the restless soul who found his peace far from home, under the Tahitian sun.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Charles was born in 1887, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Charles Was Born
The biggest hits of 1887
Charles's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1887Born
President: Grover Cleveland
1892Started school
President: Benjamin Harrison
1900Became a teenager
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1903Could drive
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1905Could vote
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1908Turned 21
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1917Turned 30
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1927Turned 40
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1937Turned 50
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1947Turned 60
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
Key Achievements
- Co-authored 'The Bounty Trilogy' ('Mutiny on the Bounty,' 'Men Against the Sea,' 'Pitcairn's Island') with James Norman Hall, which became a publishing phenomenon.
- Served as a pilot in the French Air Force's Lafayette Flying Corps and later the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I.
- Wrote 'The Fledgling,' a well-regarded account of his World War I aviation experiences, published in 1919.
- Co-wrote the novel 'The Hurricane' with James Norman Hall, which was adapted into a successful 1937 film directed by John Ford.
- Lived for most of his adult life in Tahiti, using the South Pacific as the setting for much of his work.
Did You Know?
Before teaming up with Hall, he and another writer published a history of the Lafayette Flying Corps.
He was the grandfather of journalist and author Charles Nordhoff, who shares his name.
Nordhoff and Hall wrote their collaborative novels by mailing chapters back and forth between their separate Tahitian homes.
The town of Nordhoff, California (now called Ojai), was named after his grandfather, journalist Charles Nordhoff.
“I write of the sea and islands to find a world that makes sense.”
