Editing C. S. Forester (section)

==Early years==
[[File:C. S. FORESTER 1899-1966 Novelist lived here.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|[[English heritage]] [[blue plaque]] in [[East Dulwich]], south London]]

Forester was born in [[Cairo]] on 27 August 1899, fifth and youngest child of George Foster Smith and his wife Sarah. His father was an English teacher in a local school set up to give upper-class Egyptian boys an English education. His parents separated when he was young, and his mother took him to London, where he was educated at [[Alleyn's School]] and [[Dulwich College]]. He began to study medicine at [[Guy's Hospital]], but left without completing his degree. He was somewhat athletic, wore glasses, and had a slender physique. He failed his Army physical and was told that there was no chance that he would be accepted. He began writing seriously, using his pen name, in around 1921.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sternlicht |first1=Sanford |title=C.S. Forester and the Hornblower saga |date=1999 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |isbn=9780815606215 |edition=Rev. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wfq6JUAkcIC |access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Book: Flying colours. |url=https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma993828323902959&context=L&vid=01GALI_UGA:UGA&lang=en&search_scope=MyInstitution&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=LibraryCatalog&query=title,exact,Flying%20colours. |website=University of Georgia |access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref>