A Separate Peace was John Knowles' first novel. At age 15, Knowles moved to an elite prep school in New Hampshire-Phillips Exeter Academy. His experiences there have inspired him to write A Separate Peace and Peace Breaks Out. He went to Yale to study English, then went to the Army for eight months before returning to complete his bachelor's degree. Although Knowles has written many other books, none of them has been as successful as A Separate Peace.