Nigel Hamilton (author)
Encyclopedia
Nigel Hamilton is an award-winning British-born biographer, academic and broadcaster
, whose works have been translated into sixteen languages. In the United States
he is known primarily for his best-selling work on the young John F. Kennedy
, JFK: Reckless Youth, which was made into an ABC
miniseries. In the United Kingdom
, he is known for Monty, a prizewinning three-volume official life of famed World War II
hero, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, which won both the 1981 Whitbread Award
and the Templer Medal for Military History.
He has also written about the lives of Thomas Mann
and former President Bill Clinton
as well as numerous other works in a variety of fields. His film on the life of Field Marshal Montgomery won the New York Blue Ribbon Award for Best Documentary. He founded the British Institute of Biography and became the first Professor of Biography in the UK at De Montfort University
. He is currently Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston
, where he wrote a modern version of the The Twelve Caesars, titled American Caesars: Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush, published in September 2010 by Yale University Press
.
, where his father, Denis Hamilton, a distinguished World War II
battalion commander, became pioneering editor of The Sunday Times
, chairman and editor-in-chief of The Times
, chairman of Reuters
, and Trustee of the British Museum
and British Library
. Hamilton was educated at Westminster School
with his twin brother Adrian, who later became a prominent British journalist for the London Observer, The Times and Independent
.
He then attended Munich University and Trinity College, Cambridge
where he received an honors degree in history and a master's degree. Subsequently he trained under André Deutsch
and Diana Athill
as a book publisher at André Deutsch Publishers. After leaving Deutsch, he taught at a school in Greenwich
where he assisted in reviving the historic borough on the Thames. Hamilton opened a bookstore and began writing with his mother, Olive Hamilton, the first history of Greenwich in nearly a century, Royal Greenwich. He wrote several more guide books and edited the arts page in a London newspaper.
, Hamilton published his first major biography in 1978, The Brothers Mann, recording the lives of the German novelists Heinrich
and Thomas Mann
which received high praise in Britain and the United States and was translated into several languages.
In 1981, Hamilton published the first volume of his official life of Field Marshal
Bernard Montgomery, Monty: The Making of a General, 1887–1942, which established Hamilton’s international reputation as a military historian and biographer. This work was followed by Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 1942–1944, and Monty: The Field Marshal, 1944–1976. The Making of a General won the Whitbread Award
for Biography in 1981, and the Templer Medal for Best Contribution to Military History in 1986.
Working with Robin Whitby, a Cambridge colleague, in 1987, Hamilton founded Biografia Publishers and The Biography Bookshop in Covent Garden, London
to promote the field of biography.
In 1988, Hamilton moved to the U.S.
to undertake a book on the life of former President John F. Kennedy
and he was named the John F. Kennedy Scholar at the University of Massachusetts Boston
and a visiting professor of history. The first volume of his biography was published by Random House
in the fall of 1992 as JFK: Reckless Youth. The New York Times Book Review
welcomed it as “rich, gripping... a book not only about a remarkable young John F. Kennedy but also about American democracy’s own still reckless age.” It became a New York Times bestseller and film rights were sold to Hearst Entertainment, who turned it into a television mini-series, JFK: Reckless Youth, which starred Patrick Dempsey
as the young JFK.
In 1994, Hamilton moved back to the UK, where he became Visiting Professor of History at Royal Holloway, University of London
, and Professor of Biography at De Montfort University
, in Leicester. He set up the British Institute of Biography and led Royal Holloway’s bid to create the first public and academic center for biography in Britain, the Biorama Project.
Hamilton again returned to the U.S. to undertake a two volume biographical work on the life of former President, Bill Clinton
. The first volume was published as Bill Clinton: An American Journey in 2003 while the second volume, Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency (taking Clinton’s life up to 1996), followed in 2007. Both were lauded in the press and received outstanding reviews.
After having become Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies and a visiting scholar at both Georgetown University
and George Washington University
in 2005, Hamilton returned to his first love, the study of the art of biography. He published Biography: A Brief History in 2007, to high acclaim from the New York Times and followed in 2008 with How To Do Biography: A Primer, based on his many years of teaching and life writing, which received additional praise for Hamilton's work on the art of biography.
Hamilton's latest work is a modern version of the classic history of the great emperors of Rome
, The Twelve Caesars, written early in the second century A.D. by the biographer and historian Suetonius
. Published by Yale University Press in September 2010, American Caesars records the lives of the last twelve U.S. presidents, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to George W. Bush
, and is Hamilton’s most ambitious work to date.
Hamilton also reviews books for the The Boston Sunday Globe
, The Journal of Military History
and the London Review of Books
, among others. He has had op-ed pieces and articles in the New York Times, the London Independent, and the Times Higher Education, among others. Hamilton has contributed to dozens of television documentary programs and lectures at many universities around the world on his work.
at Munich University, and had two children, Alexander and Sebastian. Following her death in 1973, Hamilton married Outi Palovesi in 1976 and together, they had two more children, Nick and Christian. In 2005, the marriage was dissolved and Hamilton married his third wife, Dr. Raynel Shepard, in 2006. Dr. Shepard is a curriculum developer in ESL for the Boston Public Schools
and a university lecturer in education.
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
, whose works have been translated into sixteen languages. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
he is known primarily for his best-selling work on the young John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, JFK: Reckless Youth, which was made into an ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
miniseries. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, he is known for Monty, a prizewinning three-volume official life of famed World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
hero, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, which won both the 1981 Whitbread Award
1981 Whitbread Awards
-Biography:Winner:*Nigel Hamilton, Monty: The Making of a General-References:*...
and the Templer Medal for Military History.
He has also written about the lives of Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
and former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
as well as numerous other works in a variety of fields. His film on the life of Field Marshal Montgomery won the New York Blue Ribbon Award for Best Documentary. He founded the British Institute of Biography and became the first Professor of Biography in the UK at De Montfort University
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...
. He is currently Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The university is located on on Harbor Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
, where he wrote a modern version of the The Twelve Caesars, titled American Caesars: Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush, published in September 2010 by Yale University Press
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
.
Early life and career
Hamilton was born in Alnmouth, Northumberland, but spent his early life in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where his father, Denis Hamilton, a distinguished World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
battalion commander, became pioneering editor of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, chairman and editor-in-chief of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, chairman of Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, and Trustee of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
and British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
. Hamilton was educated at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
with his twin brother Adrian, who later became a prominent British journalist for the London Observer, The Times and Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
.
He then attended Munich University and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
where he received an honors degree in history and a master's degree. Subsequently he trained under André Deutsch
André Deutsch
André Deutsch was a British publisher.After having learned the business of publishing working for Francis Aldor with whom he was interned in the Isle of Man during the Second World War and who had introduced him to the industry, André Deutsch left Aldor's employment after a few months to continue...
and Diana Athill
Diana Athill
Diana Athill OBE is a British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the most important writers of the 20th century.-Life and writings:...
as a book publisher at André Deutsch Publishers. After leaving Deutsch, he taught at a school in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
where he assisted in reviving the historic borough on the Thames. Hamilton opened a bookstore and began writing with his mother, Olive Hamilton, the first history of Greenwich in nearly a century, Royal Greenwich. He wrote several more guide books and edited the arts page in a London newspaper.
Biographer
After moving to SuffolkSuffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, Hamilton published his first major biography in 1978, The Brothers Mann, recording the lives of the German novelists Heinrich
Heinrich Mann
Luiz Heinrich Mann was a German novelist who wrote works with strong social themes. His attacks on the authoritarian and increasingly militaristic nature of pre-World War II German society led to his exile in 1933.-Life and work:Born in Lübeck as the oldest child of Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann...
and Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
which received high praise in Britain and the United States and was translated into several languages.
In 1981, Hamilton published the first volume of his official life of Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Bernard Montgomery, Monty: The Making of a General, 1887–1942, which established Hamilton’s international reputation as a military historian and biographer. This work was followed by Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 1942–1944, and Monty: The Field Marshal, 1944–1976. The Making of a General won the Whitbread Award
1981 Whitbread Awards
-Biography:Winner:*Nigel Hamilton, Monty: The Making of a General-References:*...
for Biography in 1981, and the Templer Medal for Best Contribution to Military History in 1986.
Working with Robin Whitby, a Cambridge colleague, in 1987, Hamilton founded Biografia Publishers and The Biography Bookshop in Covent Garden, London
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
to promote the field of biography.
In 1988, Hamilton moved to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to undertake a book on the life of former President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and he was named the John F. Kennedy Scholar at the University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The university is located on on Harbor Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
and a visiting professor of history. The first volume of his biography was published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in the fall of 1992 as JFK: Reckless Youth. The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
welcomed it as “rich, gripping... a book not only about a remarkable young John F. Kennedy but also about American democracy’s own still reckless age.” It became a New York Times bestseller and film rights were sold to Hearst Entertainment, who turned it into a television mini-series, JFK: Reckless Youth, which starred Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey is an American actor, known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to Grey's Anatomy he made several television appearances and was nominated for an Emmy Award...
as the young JFK.
In 1994, Hamilton moved back to the UK, where he became Visiting Professor of History at Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
, and Professor of Biography at De Montfort University
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...
, in Leicester. He set up the British Institute of Biography and led Royal Holloway’s bid to create the first public and academic center for biography in Britain, the Biorama Project.
Hamilton again returned to the U.S. to undertake a two volume biographical work on the life of former President, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. The first volume was published as Bill Clinton: An American Journey in 2003 while the second volume, Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency (taking Clinton’s life up to 1996), followed in 2007. Both were lauded in the press and received outstanding reviews.
After having become Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies and a visiting scholar at both Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
and George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in 2005, Hamilton returned to his first love, the study of the art of biography. He published Biography: A Brief History in 2007, to high acclaim from the New York Times and followed in 2008 with How To Do Biography: A Primer, based on his many years of teaching and life writing, which received additional praise for Hamilton's work on the art of biography.
Hamilton's latest work is a modern version of the classic history of the great emperors of Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, The Twelve Caesars, written early in the second century A.D. by the biographer and historian Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
. Published by Yale University Press in September 2010, American Caesars records the lives of the last twelve U.S. presidents, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, and is Hamilton’s most ambitious work to date.
Hamilton also reviews books for the The Boston Sunday Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, The Journal of Military History
Society for Military History
The Society for Military History is an United States-based international organization of scholars who research, write and teach military history of all time periods and places. It includes Naval history, air power history and studies of technology, ideas, and homefronts. It publishes the...
and the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, among others. He has had op-ed pieces and articles in the New York Times, the London Independent, and the Times Higher Education, among others. Hamilton has contributed to dozens of television documentary programs and lectures at many universities around the world on his work.
Personal life
Hamilton was married to Hannelore Pfeifer, a doctoral student of German literatureGerman literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
at Munich University, and had two children, Alexander and Sebastian. Following her death in 1973, Hamilton married Outi Palovesi in 1976 and together, they had two more children, Nick and Christian. In 2005, the marriage was dissolved and Hamilton married his third wife, Dr. Raynel Shepard, in 2006. Dr. Shepard is a curriculum developer in ESL for the Boston Public Schools
Boston Public Schools
Boston Public Schools is a school district serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States.-Leadership:The district is led by a Superintendent, hired by the Boston School Committee, a seven-member school board appointed by the Mayor after approval by a nominating committee of specified...
and a university lecturer in education.
Books
- Royal Greenwich; A Guide and History of London’s Most Historic Borough — 1969 (with Olive Hamilton) ISBN 0900293012
- Greenwich in Colour: A Guide for the Visitor — 1970 ISBN 0900293020
- Nigel Hamilton's Guide to Greenwich: A Personal Guide to the Buildings and Walks of One of England's Most Beautiful and Historic Areas — 1972 ISBN 0900293047
- America Began at Greenwich — 1976 ISBN 0905242017
- The Brothers Mann: The Lives of Heinrich and Thomas Mann, 1871–1950 and 1875–1955 — 1978 ISBN 0436191032
- Monty: The Making of a General, 1887–1942 — 1981 ISBN 0241105838
- A Case of Literary Fratricide: The Brüderzwist Between Heinrich and Thomas Mann in Norman Kiell, ed Blood Brothers: Siblings As Writers — 1983 ISBN 0823605450
- Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 1942–1944 — 1984 (U.S. title: Master of the Battlefield: Monty’s War Years 1942–1944) ISBN 0241111048
- Thomas Mann in Jeffrey Meyers, ed The Craft of Literary Biography — 1985 ISBN 0333373480
- Monty: The Field-Marshal, 1944–1976 — 1986 (U.S. title: Monty: Final Years of the Field-Marshal, 1944–1976) ISBN 0241118387
- Monty: The Man Behind the Legend — 1987 ISBN 1852910062
- Editor-in-Chief: The Fleet Street Memoirs of Sir Denis Hamilton — 1989 (Denis Hamilton with Nigel Hamilton) ISBN 024112591X
- The Price of Independence: Finland-USSR in Frontiers — 1990 (with Nadine Gordimer, Ronald Eyre, Chris Hitchens, et al.) ISBN 0563207019
- D-Day: Gemeinsame Operationen und die Frage der Führung in Gerhard P. Groß, ed, Führungsdenken in europäischen und nordamerikanischen Streitkräften im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert — 2001 ISBN 3813207625
- JFK: Reckless Youth — 1992 ISBN 0679412166
- Monty: The Battles of Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery — 1994 ISBN 0679433414
- The Full Monty: Montgomery of Alamein 1887–1942 — 2001 ISBN 0713993340
- Bill Clinton, An American Journey: Great Expectations — 2003 ISBN 0375506101
- Montgomery of Alamein in Annabel and Neil Wenborn, eds British Military Greats — 2004 ISBN 1844032558
- Montgomery: D-Day Commander — 2007 ISBN 1574889044
- Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency — 2007 ISBN 1586486659
- Biography: a brief history — 2007 ISBN 9780674024663
- How To Do Biography: A Primer — 2008 ISBN 978-0674027961
- American Caesars: Lives of the Presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush — 2010 ISBN 978-0300169287
Books on tape
- JFK: Reckless Youth Abridged and read by the author — 1993 ISBN 1879371561
- JFK: Reckless Youth Unabridged and read by Alexander Adams — 1994 ISBN 1879371561
- Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency Abridged and read by James Adams — 2007 ISBN 9781433204944
Filmography
- Monty – In Love and War (1987) — Writer and presenter
- Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, The Modern World: Ten Great Writers series (1988) — Presenter
- Big Brother’s Bargain, Finland-Russia (1990) — Writer and presenter
- The Kennedys, The American Experience (1992) — Consultant and contributor
External links
- Hamilton speaks on C-SPAN about Biography: a Brief History
- Random House: Author Details for Nigel Hamilton
- Profile of Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency
- Profile of Biography: a Brief History
- Profile of How To Do Biography: A Primer
- William Morris Agency represents Hamilton in the U.S.
- David Higham Associates represents Hamilton in the U.K.
- Interview with Nigel Hamilton, on Beyond the Margins