Robert Ludlum the American novelist is globally famous for his several thriller novels. The global popularity of Robert Ludlum among his readers can be estimated by the fact that more than 290 million copies translated in to 32 languages have been printed to date, making him one of the most successful authors of his era. Robert Ludlum has also published books under the pen names of Michael Shepherd and Jonathan Ryder.

Robert Ludlum was born on the 25th of May, 1927 in New York City, America. Robert Ludlum started his education at a school named The Rectory School which is a boarding and day private school based at Pomfret, Connecticut, USA. After a few years of education he moved to Cheshire Academy, a Prep school located in Cheshire, Connecticut. After completing his initial education Robert moved to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut which is a private liberal arts college. During his education at Wesleyan University Robert Ludlum also joined the Alpha Delta Phi which is the fourth oldest fraternity in the United States. Before entering in to the profession of book writing Robert Ludlum worked as an artist and as a producer for theatre. Many critics believe that Robert Ludlum’s theatre experiences are the key behind the success Robert has as an accomplished novel writer. As a keen observer Robert Ludlum learned the intricacies involved in making interesting and involving plots through his association with theater, an art which he successfully employed in his novels. Robert once agreed during an interview to the fact that theater and novel writing have strong co-relations especially for him.

Robert Ludlum's written plots were exceptionally popular among motion picture producers, be it film or television. The fact can be substantiated by the number of film and television adaptations his work has witnessed during his career. Some of the popular ones are The Osterman Weekend published in 1972 and was Robert Ludlum’s second book, The Apocalypse Watch, The Holcroft Covenant, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Ultimatum. The story of the book titled The Hades Factor written by Gayle Lynds is loosely based on unused notes of Robert Ludlum and has also been adapted for a television mini-series by the same name. The movie titled The Bourne Ultimatum starring Matt Damon in the title role turned out to be a phenomenal commercial and critical success. In recognition to this the movie deservingly claimed three Academy Awards in 2008.

Robert Ludlum’s novels mostly depict a man of heroic character or a small group of people going into conflict against powerful opponents with evil intentions. Robert Ludlum had a keen sense of political and social mechanisms which he often employs against the lead character of his novels. Robert Ludlum was extremely careful when including geographical, technical, and biological details in his novels. These details are often gathered through meticulous research.

Ludlum mostly wrote novels which were inspired by historic and contemporary conspiracy theories. Some examples are, the book titled The Matarese Circle published in 1979, the story of this novel was inspired by the influence of the Trilateral Commission which is a private organization, established to foster closer cooperation between USA, Japan and Europe. The Matarese Circle was published a few years after the establishment of the Trilateral Commission. Ludlum’s other book titled The Holcroft Covenant also describes terrorism and terrorists as mere pawns of private or government organizations with vested interests.

The great novelist died on March 12th, 2001 at the age of seventy-three; the cause of his death was a brain hemorrhage.