Philip Ziegler
Encyclopedia
Background
Born in RingwoodRingwood
Ringwood is a historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and north of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages....
, Ziegler was educated at St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations to gain admission to leading public schools, and to provide an...
, Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
, and went with the school when it merged with Summer Fields School
Summer Fields School
Summer Fields is a boys' independent preparatory school based in Summertown, Oxford, England.-History:Originally called Summerfield, it became a Boys' Preparatory School in 1864 with seven pupils. Its owner, Archibald Maclaren, was a fencing teacher who ran a gymnasium in Oxford; he himself was...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. He was afterwards at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
. He earned a degree in Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
with highest honours before joining the British Foreign Service, in which he served in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
and Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, as well as with the Delegation to NATO in Paris.
Writing career
In 1967 he retired from the Foreign Service, and joined CollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
. Originally intending to be a novelist, he began a career as biographer with his life of Talleyrand's lover, the Duchess of Dino. He was editor in chief at Collins from 1979-80. He has written in various journals and newspapers including The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
, The Listener, 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...
, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and History Today
History Today
History Today is an illustrated history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it is the world's leading, and possibly oldest, history magazine. Its successful mission has always been to present serious and authoritative history to as wide a public as possible...
.
Works
- Duchess of Dino (1962) on Princess Dorothea of Courland
- Addington: A Life of Henry Addington, First Viscount Sidmouth (1965)
- The Black Death (1969)
- King William IVWilliam IV of the United KingdomWilliam IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
(1971) - OmdurmanBattle of OmdurmanAt the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
(1973) - Melbourne : a Biography of William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1976) on Lord Melbourne the Prime Minister
- Crown and People (1978)
- Diana Cooper (1981)
- Mountbatten. The Official Biography (1985)
- Elizabeth's Britain 1926 to 1986 (1986)
- Diaries of Lord Louis Mountbatten 1920-1922: Tours with the Prince of Wales (1987) editor
- Personal Diary of Admiral the Lord Louis Mountbatten, South-East Asia, 1943-1946 (1988)
- The Sixth Great Power: Barings 1762-1929 (1988)
- From Shore to Shore - The Final Years: The Diaries of Earl Mountbatten of BurmaEarl Mountbatten of BurmaThe title Earl Mountbatten of Burma was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1947 for Rear Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India....
1953-1979 (1989) - Edward VIII, the Official Biography (1990)
- Brooks'sBrooks'sBrooks's is one of London's most exclusive gentlemen's clubs, founded in 1764 by 27 men, including four dukes. From its inception, it was the meeting place for Whigs of the highest social order....
: A Social History (1991) editor with Desmond Seward - Wilson: The Authorised Life of Lord Wilson of Rievaulx (1995) on Harold WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
- London at War 1939-1945 (1995)
- Osbert SitwellOsbert SitwellSir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet, was an English writer. His elder sister was Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell and his younger brother was Sir Sacheverell Sitwell; like them he devoted his life to art and literature....
(1998) - Britain Now and Then: The Francis FrithFrancis FrithFrancis Frith was an English photographer of the Middle East and many towns in the United Kingdom....
Collection (1999) - Soldiers: Fighting Men's Lives, 1901-2001 (2001)
- Man Of Letters: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Literary Impresario Rupert Hart-DavisRupert Hart-DavisSir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis was an English publisher, editor and man of letters. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd...
(2005) - Edward Heath, Harper Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-00724-740-0