A true classic, this bestselling novel--and the inspiration for the internationally renowned film starring John Mills--tells the story of a small group of soldiers and nurses trying to escape from Tobruk through the German-occupied desert.
Landon was born in West Byfleet, Surrey. His father was a stockjobber of Huguenot descent and he was a distant cousin of the author Perceval Landon. He was educated at Lancing College and Cambridge University. He studied medicine.

Christopher Landon served with the 51st Field Ambulance in North Africa during the Second World War and with the 1st S.A. Division. He ended the war with the rank of Major in the Royal Army Service Corps.

After the war he wrote several novels including: A Flag in the City (1953), his first novel which was about WWII British intelligence in Teheran and their plans to destroy Germany's fifth column operations in Persia; Stone Cold Dead in the Market; Hornet's Nest; Dead Men Rise Up Never; and Unseen Enemy (aka The Shadow of Time).

He died of accidental alcohol and barbiturate poisoning at his home in Frognal in 1961, leaving a wife and three children.