Gareth Russell is a Northern Irish historian, author, and broadcaster.
Gareth Russell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Down High Grammar School |
| Alma mater | Saint Peter's College, Oxford |
| Genre | History, historical fiction, young adult fiction |
| Notable works | Do Let's Have Another Drink The Ship of Dreams Young and Damned and Fair |
| Website | |
| Author's profile | |
Gareth Russell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended Down High Grammar School, and later graduated from Saint Peter's College, Oxford, where he studied modern history.[1] Russell completed a Master's degree in medieval history at Queen's University, Belfast. He currently divides his time between Belfast and New York.[2]
Russell is the author of a series of plays.[3] In July 2011, his first novel Popular was published by Penguin, as the first in a new series of novels following the lives of a group of Belfast teenagers. It was published in German in 2014.[4] A sequel to Popular, titled The Immaculate Deception, was published in November 2012. Both novels were subsequently adapted for the stage in Northern Ireland, followed by a final theatrical sequel, Say You'll Remember Me, which received its first performance in 2016.[5]
In August 2014, Russell's first non-fiction book, The Emperors: How Europe's Rulers were Destroyed by World War One, was published by Amberley Publishing.[6] In 2017, his biography of English queen consort Catherine Howard was published, based on research undertaken between 2010 and 2016.[7] It was published by Simon & Schuster in the US and Canada, and HarperCollins in the UK, Ireland, and most of the Commonwealth. It was a finalist for the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography award in 2017, which was won that year by Edmund Gordon's biography of Angela Carter.[8] In 2019, his account of the Titanic disaster was published.[9] It was named a Book of the Year by The Times[10] and a Best History Book of 2019 by The Daily Telegraph.[11]
In 2022, his biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was published.[12]
Russell is currently working on a history of Hampton Court Palace and its occupants.