Daphne du Maurier of the "nation's best-loved novel" on the BBC's 2003 survey The Big Read. Other significant works include "The Scapegoat", "The House on the Strand", and "The King's General". The last is set in the middle of the first and second English Civil Wars, written from the Royalist perspective of Du Maurier's adopted Cornwall. Several of Du Maurier's other novels have also been adapted for the screen, including "Jamaica Inn", "Frenchman's Creek", "Hungry Hill", and "My Cousin Rachel". The Hitchcock film "The Birds" (1963) is based on a treatment of one of her short stories, as is the film "Don't Look
Daphne du Maurier time". In later life, she wrote non-fiction, including several biographies such as "Gerald", her father's biography. "The Glass-Blowers" traces her French Huguenot ancestry and vividly depicts the French Revolution. "The du Mauriers" traces the family's move from France to England in the 19th century. "The House on the Strand" (1969) combines elements of "mental time-travel", a tragic love affair in 14th-century Cornwall, and the dangers of using mind-altering drugs. Her final novel, "Rule Britannia" (1972), satirises resentment of British people in general and Cornish people in particular at the increasing U.S. dominance of Britain's affairs. Du Maurier wrote three plays.