WRITER

Richard Adams

1920 - 2016

Photo of Richard Adams

Icon of person Richard Adams

Richard George Adams (9 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist and writer of the books Watership Down, Maia, Shardik and The Plague Dogs. He studied modern history at Oxford before serving in the British Army during World War II. Afterwards, he completed his studies, and then joined the British Civil Service. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Richard Adams has received more than 961,823 page views. His biography is available in 40 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 39 in 2019). Richard Adams is the 2,485th most popular writer (down from 2,042nd in 2019), the 1,836th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 1,606th in 2019) and the 202nd most popular British Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 960k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 54.53

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 40

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.91

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.40

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Traveller
The Plague Dogs
Fantasy fiction, Fiction in English, xenofiction
Richard Adams, the author of Watership Down, creates a lyrical and engrossing tale, a remarkable journey into the hearts and minds of two canine heroes, Snitter and Rowf. After being horribly mistreated at a government animal research facility, Snitter and Rowf escape into the isolation--and terror--of the wilderness. Aided only by a fox they call ''the Tod,'' the two dogs must struggle to survive in their new environment. When the starving dogs attack some sheep, they are labeled ferocious man-eating monsters, setting off a great dog hunt that is later intensified by the fear that the dogs could be carriers of the bubonic plague.
Shardik
Fiction, Fiction in English, Bears
"Shardik is a powerful work, dipping deep into old forms-allegory, epic, myth-resonating in the caverns of the readers' unconscious . . . It is an exciting story, the adventures compelling." (Los Angeles Times) "Grips with suspense, haunts with mystery . . . a memorable work, not to be read once only but to be reread as loved books are . . . a human saga." (The Wall Street Journal) Richard Adams's Watership Down was a number one bestseller, a stunning work of the imagination, and an acknowledged modern classic. In Shardik Adams sets a different yet equally compelling tale in a far-off fantasy world. Shardik is a fantasy of tragic character, centered on the long-awaited reincarnation of the gigantic bear Shardik and his appearance among the half-barbaric Ortelgan people. Mighty, ferocious, and unpredictable, Shardik changes the life of every person in the story. His advent commences a momentous chain of events. Kelderek the hunter, who loves and trusts the great bear, is swept on by destiny to become first devotee and then prophet, then victorious soldier, then ruler of an empire and priest-king of Lord Shardik-Messenger of God-only to discover ever-deeper layers of meaning implicit in his passionate belief in the bear's divinity. A gripping tale of war, adventure, horror and romance, Shardik, on a deeper level, is a remarkable exploration of mankind's universal desire for divine incarnation.
The girl in a swing
Fiction in English, Romance fiction, Love stories
Watership Down
rabbits, survival, war

Page views of Richard Adams by language

Over the past year Richard Adams has had the most page views in the with 93,353 views, followed by Russian (6,985), and German (5,608). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Korean (101.33%), Irish (58.99%), and Simple English (57.70%)

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Richard Adams ranks 2,485 out of 7,302Before him are Eeva Kilpi, Ludovic Halévy, Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ulrich von Liechtenstein, Timotheus of Miletus, and Wilhelm Raabe. After him are Peter Shaffer, Isak Samokovlija, Sextus Pompeius Festus, Ursula Kuczynski, Yuan Mei, and Valery Larbaud.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1920, Richard Adams ranks 164Before him are Josip Manolić, Dick Francis, Marlen Haushofer, Marie Tharp, Janet Jagan, and Thomas Szasz. After him are Katsuko Saruhashi, Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Barend Biesheuvel, William Conrad, Eduardo Mondlane, and Schubert Gambetta. Among people deceased in 2016, Richard Adams ranks 157Before him are Abe Vigoda, Javier Echevarría Rodríguez, Götz George, Rudi Altig, Curtis Hanson, and Ferdinand Kübler. After him are Peter Shaffer, Ilse Aichinger, Bill Nunn, Artur Fischer, Frano Selak, and Jadranka Stojaković.

Others Born in 1920

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Others Deceased in 2016

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Richard Adams ranks 1,836 out of 8,785Before him are Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (1984), Terry Venables (1943), Margaret Douglas (1515), Christabel Pankhurst (1880), Eleanor of Woodstock (1318), and Vanessa Bell (1879). After him are Emma Darwin (1808), Peter Shaffer (1926), Tony Sheridan (1940), Jasper Tudor (1431), Ernest Jones (1879), and John Ball (1338).

Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, Richard Adams ranks 202Before him are George Meredith (1828), Renée Vivien (1877), E. Nesbit (1858), William Beckford (1760), Dick Francis (1920), and Christopher Priest (1943). After him are Peter Shaffer (1926), Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (1878), John Mandeville (1300), Noël Coward (1899), David Lodge (1935), and Ouida (1839).