He served as a radio operator on the heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk during the Bismarck action and during the North African landings.
As a non-commissioned officer during the Second World War he received the Distinguished Service Medal for bravery and resourcefulness.
After devoting himself solely to writing for three years, in 1969 he returned to the pharmaceutical corporate world going to work as a public relations officer for E. R. Squibb & Sons, a post he held until 1975 when he and his wife retired to Surrey.
Bassett's historical fiction includes The Carthaginian (1963), The Pompeians (1965), Amorous Trooper (1968), and Blood of an Englishman: A Novel of the Siege of Cawnpore (1975).
His novel Witchfinder General (1966) was made into the controversial 1968 film of the same title directed by Michael Reeves and starring Vincent Price.