Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert was an American writer, born in Tacoma, Washington, on 8 October 1920, and died on 11 February 1986. Before he became a full-time novelist he worked as a journalist and in a range of other jobs, and he had a lifelong interest in ecology, religion, politics and the workings of human society. These interests shaped his fiction.

He is best remembered for Dune, published in 1965, a vast science fiction novel set on a desert planet. It combined adventure with careful thought about environment, power, prophecy and the dangers of following charismatic leaders. Dune became one of the best-selling and most influential science fiction books ever written, and Herbert continued the story through five further novels. He also wrote other science fiction, often exploring how people behave under pressure, how language and consciousness shape experience, and how societies change.