M. P. Shiel

> M. P. Shiel is a pen name of **Matthew Phipps Shiel** (1865-1947). He was a West Indian-born British writer who produced twenty-five novels and dozens of short stories under the name M. P. Shiel, mostly in the romantic or supernatural adventure vein. His best-remembered novel is *The Purple Cloud* (1901), a "last-man-on-Earth" tale that inspired Stephen King's *The Stand* (1978) as well as several films. He is also known for four stories with the highly unusual detective Prince Zaleski …