To write the Exodus Uris moved to Israel and spent more than two years reading over 300 books and traveling 12,000 miles, collecting 1,200 interviews and 1000 pages of notes. His next book, The Angry Hills was released in 1955, and his best-known work, Exodus, which covered the history of Palestine from the late 19th century to the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, was published in 1958.

In 1950 Esquire magazine bought an article of his, at which point he began to dedicate more to his craft, and in 1953 published Battle Cry, which was a best-seller and soon after released as a movie by MGM. While recuperating in San Francisco he met his future wife, Betty Beck, a Marine sergeant.Īfter being released from service, he worked for a newspaper and wrote in his spare time. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served in New Zealand from 1942 - 1944 until sickness forced him back to the US. His father was a Polish immigrant who spent a year in Palestine before coming to the US after WWI, and his mother was a first-generation Russian-American.Īlthough a writer from a young age, reportedly composing an operetta at six, Uris failed English three times and didn’t graduate from High School. Leon Uris was born on August 3rd, 1924 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Trinity novel leon uris