Ian Mortimer (historian)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ian Mortimer

FRHistS
BornPetts Wood, London Borough of Bromley, England
Alma materUniversity of Exeter
University College London
Period1995–present
Genrehistory, historiography, historical fiction
Website
www.ianmortimer.com

Ian James Forrester Mortimer

Sunday Times
bestseller in paperback in 2010.

Early life and education

Ian James Forrester Mortimer was born in Petts Wood, and was educated at Eastbourne College, the University of Exeter (BA, PhD, DLitt) and University College London (MA).[citation needed]

Career

Between 1993 and 2003 he worked for several major research institutions, including the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, the University of Exeter, and the University of Reading.[citation needed]

His first publications were poems, published in various literary magazines. In 2000 his work "31 December 1999" was awarded the University of Exeter's prize for a "poem for the Millennium", open to all present and past students of the university, and judged by the then poet laureate, Andrew Motion.[citation needed]

From 2003 to 2009 he published a sequence of biographies of medieval political leaders: first Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, then Edward III, and Henry IV, in addition to 1415, a year in the life of Henry V.[citation needed]

Mortimer's best known book is The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England, first published in the United Kingdom in 2008. It was followed by The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England (which became a BBC TV series, presented by the author) and The Time Traveller's Guide to Restoration Britain.[citation needed]

He is also well known for pioneering, in his first two books and an article in The English Historical Review, the argument (based on evidence such as the Fieschi Letter) that Edward II did not die in Berkeley Castle in 1327.[1]

Mortimer has also carried out research into the

western society has ever experienced.[citation needed
]

In 2011, Mortimer entered the genre of historical fiction, publishing the first book from his Elizabethan era Clarenceux Trilogy using the pen name of James Forrester. James Forrester are Mortimer's middle names.[2][3] His fourth novel, The Outcasts of Time, was published under his ordinary name: it won the 2018 Winston Graham Prize for Historical Fiction.[citation needed]

Other roles

In 2003 he was appointed by the Secretary of State Member of Dartmoor National Park Authority, representing the parishes. In 2009 he was reappointed as a Member by the Secretary of State, this time representing the national interest – a role which he continued to perform until 2017. Other public appointments have included the Lord Chancellor's Forum on Historical Manuscripts and Academic Research, 2011–17 (subsequently known as the Forum on Archives and Academic Research) and the Fabric Advisory Committee of Exeter Cathedral, 2011–16.

Personal life

Mortimer is the nephew of the British tennis player Angela Mortimer.[citation needed]

Among his interests he includes running: in 2017 he wrote a memoir about the meaning of running, which relates the various lessons he had learnt from taking part in parkrun and half marathons – which was published as Why Running Matters: lessons in life, pain and exhilaration, from 5K to the marathon (Summersdale, 2019).[citation needed]

Mortimer is highly critical of Wikipedia and Jimmy Wales.[4]

Honours

Mortimer is a

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS).[citation needed
]

On 12 February 2015, he was elected a

Historical works (selected)

Historical fiction (writing as Ian Mortimer)

  • The Outcasts of Time (UK: Simon & Schuster, 2017 US: Pegasus, 2018).

Historical fiction (writing as James Forrester)

  • Sacred Treason (UK: Headline, 2010 US: Sourcebooks, 2012)
  • The Roots of Betrayal (UK: Headline, 2011 US: Sourcebooks, 2013)
  • The Final Sacrament (UK: Headline, 2012 US: Sourcebooks, 2013)

References

  1. ^ For a synopsis, see: Ian Mortimer: A Note on the Deaths of Edward II.
  2. ^ Craney, Glen (6 August 2010). "Lies, Damn Lies, and Historical Fiction". History into Fiction. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  3. ^ "James Forrester". Amazon.com. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  4. ^ Wikipedia and Politics
  5. ^ "12 Feb Ballot Results". News. Society of Antiquaries of London. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.

External links