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Find Lord of the Flies by William Golding on AbeBooks: http://bit.ly/MAfQYE 1.William Golding, born in Cornwall, started writing at the age of seven. Published in 1954 by Faber & Faber, Lord of the Flies was his debut novel. At first it sold less than 3,000 copies, but eventually became a bestseller and by the 60s was required reading in many schools. 2. Faber and Faber didn't immediately think the novel was worthy of publication but an editor called Charles Monteith championed Golding's book. 3. The book has been adapted to a film twice. In 1963 Peter Brook released his version which is thought to be the closest to the story and was met with positive reviews. Harry Hook made a second adaptation in 1990 with a moderate box office success. 4. Lord of the Flies is a prime example of allegorical fiction, which means that the underlying message of the book is made through symbolic figures, actions and representation. 5. Golding studied Natural Sciences at Oxford University. Within the story he alludes to human evolution in the way and timing that the boys discover fire, tools, and the creation of their social systems. 6. Rock band, U2, borrowed the title of Chapter 7: Shadows and Tall Trees, for the final track on their 1980 debut album, Boy, and heavy metal band Iron Maiden composed a 1995 song called Lord of the Flies. 7. The book has won many awards, including being named one of the top 100 best English-language novels since 1923 by Time Magazine. 8. The title, Lord of the Flies has two meanings. The first is a reference to a line from King Lear "As flies to wanton boys, are we to gods." The second is a direct translation to Beelzebub, which means "God of the Flies" in Greek and is synonymous with Satan. 9. William Golding was knighted in 1988. 10. Stephen King sites Lord of the Flies as an influence for several of his novels. For the centennial celebration of Golding's birthday in 2011, he wrote an introduction to the novel.