The Uncrowned King

Harold Bell Wright (1872-1944) was a best-selling American writer of fiction, essays, and non-fiction during the first half of the 20th century. Although mostly forgotten or ignored after the middle of the 20th century, he is said to have been the first American writer to sell a million copies of a novel and the first to make $1 million from writing fiction. Between 1902 and 1942 Wright wrote 19 books, several stage plays, and many magazine articles. More than twenty one movies were made from Wright's stories, including Gary Cooper's first major movie, The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926). In 1902, while pastoring the Christian Church in Pittsburg, Kansas, he wrote a melodramatic story, entitled That Printer of Udell's. But it was Wright's second novel, The Shepherd of the Hills (1907) that established him as a best-selling author. In 1912 he published his most popular book, The Winning of Barbara Worth. Amongst his other works are The Calling of Dan Matthews (1909), The Uncrowned King (1910), Their Yesterdays (1912), The Eyes of the World (1914), The Re-Creation of Brian Kent (1914), When a Man's a Man (1916) and Helen of the Old House (1921).