Rosalind Miles (born Rosalind Mary Simpson on January 6, 1943) is an English author, historian, university lecturer, broadcaster, journalist, magistrate and activist who has written 23 works of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

and

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

. Dr Miles' international best-selling book ''

The Women's History of the World ''The Women's History of the World'' () is a book about women's history written by British author Rosalind Miles Ph.D., first published in 1988. Later editions, including the paperback versions of the book, were titled ''Who Cooked The Last Supp ...

'', also called ''Who Cooked the Last Supper?'', charts the untold history of women. She has two grown children, and is married to the historian Robin Cross.

Life and career

Rosalind Miles was born in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, the youngest of three sisters. As a child, Miles suffered from

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

, which she acquired at the age of four, causing her to undergo several months of treatment. From the age of ten, Miles attended the

King Edward VI High School for Girls King Edward VI High School for Girls (KEHS) is an all-girls public school (United Kingdom), public school located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1883 and occupies the same site as, and is twinned with the King Edward's Scho ...

,"Biography", ''Rosalind Miles''
Accessed 26 Dec 2014 where she obtained a working knowledge of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, along with a lifelong love of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. At seventeen, she was accepted at

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College (full name = Principal and Council of St. Hilda's College, Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon saint Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a ...

, where she studied English literature,

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

and French. There, she was awarded the Eleanor Rooke Memorial Prize, the Principal's Prize of St Hilda's College, as well as a State Studentship Award. She obtained five degrees in all, including an MA and Ph.D. from the

Shakespeare Institute The Shakespeare Institute is a centre for postgraduate study dedicated to the study of William Shakespeare and the literature of the English Renaissance. It is part of the University of Birmingham, and is located in Stratford-upon-Avon. The Ins ...

at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, as well a starred MA* from the Centre for Mass Communication Research at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

. Alongside her studies, Miles worked in several occupations, including working as a travelling saleswoman and a stable hand. She got her first job, in a plastics factory, at the age of 13. Miles later became interested in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

, which resulted in her appointment at the age of 26 as a

lay magistrate In England and Wales, magistrates (; ) are highly trained volunteers and members of the judiciary who deal with a wide range of criminal and civil proceedings. They are also known as Justices of the Peace. In the adult criminal court, magistrat ...

in the Warwickshire criminal and family courts, and eventually on the bench in a superior court in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. She served for ten years, and rose to the level of

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

. Miles has also worked with numerous government agencies and served on consultative committees. In addition to novelist, Miles is also a journalist and broadcaster. She began her broadcasting career on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, for which she is now a regular commentator. She also broadcasts on Canadian radio, as well as numerous local radio stations. She has made many television appearances as a historian and commentator, including on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. As a journalist, her work has appeared in major newspapers across the English-speaking world, including ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. Miles is also a major contributor to a number of magazines, including ''

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

'' and ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

''.

Works

Non-fiction

*''The Fiction of Sex: Themes and Functions of Sex Difference in the Modern Novel'' *''The Problem of Measure for Measure'' *''Ben Jonson: His Life and Work'' *''Ben Jonson: His Craft and Art'' *''The Female Form: Women Writers and the Conquest of the Novel'' *''Danger! Men At Work'' *''Modest Proposals'' *''Women and Power'' *''

'' (also called ''Who Cooked the Last Supper?'') *''The Rites of Man: Love, Sex and Death in the Making of the Male'' (US: ''Love, Sex and Death and the Making of the Male'') (1991) *''The Children We Deserve: Love and Hate in the Making of the Family'' With Robin Cross: *''Hell Hath No Fury: True Stories of Women at War from Antiquity to Iraq'' *''Warrior Women: 3000 Years of Courage and Heroism''

Fiction

*''Return to Eden'' *''Bitter Legacy'' *''Prodigal Sins'' *''Act of Passion'' *''I, Elizabeth: the Word of a Queen'
Reader's Guide
*The

Guenevere Guinevere ( ; ; , ), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an Early Middle Ages, early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First mentioned in literature in t ...

trilogy:''Al-Ghoraibi N. A.'' Rewriting Arthurian female identity by twentieth-century female authors: Sampson, Hollick, and Miles : дис. – University of Surrey — 2022.
/ref>''Craig H. N.'' Feminist revisions of the Arthurian legend. – Library and Archives Canada, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, Ottawa — 2007.
/ref

**'' Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country'' **'' The Knight of the Sacred Lake'' **'' The Child of the Holy Grail'' *The

Isolde Iseult ( ), alternatively Isolde ( ) and other spellings, is the name of several characters in the legend of Tristan and Iseult. The most prominent is Iseult the Blonde, or Iseult of Ireland, the wife of Mark of Cornwall and the lover of Trista ...

trilogy: **''The Queen of the Western Isle'' **''The Maid of the White Hands'' **''The Lady of the Sea''

References

External links

Rosalind Miles's siteInterview with Rosalind Miles on Veronika AsksInterview with Rosalind Miles on the Read Learn Live Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Rosalind 1943 births English literary critics British women literary critics 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English historical novelists English women novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Writers of modern Arthurian fiction Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Birmingham Living people