A Review of Lord of the Flies Sir William Golding (1911-1993), was an English novelist who wrote exciting adventure stories who deal with the conflict between mind and instinct. William Gerald Golding was born in St. Columb Minor, in Cornwall. He was knighted in 1988. His novels are moral fables that reveal how dangerous and destructive human brings may be unless they are restrained by conscience. Golding won the 1983 Nobel Prize for literature. His most famous book, "Lord of the flies" tells of a group of boys stranded on an island. The Inheritors is set in prehistoric times. The Napoleonic era of the early 1800's forms the setting of the sea-