Duncan Barrett is a writer and editor who specialises in biography and memoir. After publishing several books in collaboration with other authors, he published his first solo book, ''

Men of Letters ''Men of Letters: The Post Office Heroes who Fought the Great War'' is a book by Duncan Barrett, co-author of '' The Sugar Girls'' and ''GI Brides'' and editor of '' The Reluctant Tommy''. It was published by AA Publishing on 1 August 2014 and off ...

'', in 2014. Barrett also works as an actor and theatre director.

Early life

Duncan was born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

, London in 1983 and went to City of London School from 1994 to 2001, before studying English at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes ...

, where he served as Film Editor of student newspaper '' Varsity''. He is the author of ''Star Trek: The Human Frontier'', co-written with his mother Michele Barrett and published by Polity Press in 2000. He edited

Vitali Vitaliev Vitali Vitaliev (russian: Виталий Витальев) is a Ukrainian-born journalist and writer who has worked in Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland. Biography Vitaliev was born in 1954 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He graduated f ...

's travelogue ''Passport to Enclavia'', published by

Reportage Press Reportage Press was a publishing house specialising in "books on foreign affairs or set in foreign countries, or just books written from a stranger's view." In reaction to the lack of quality books on foreign affairs, Reportage Press was establ ...

in 2008.

Work as writer and editor

Barrett was the editor of Ronald Skirth's pacifist First World War memoir ''

The Reluctant Tommy ''The Reluctant Tommy'' is a book compiled by Duncan Barrett from the memoirs of Ronald Skirth, a member of the Royal Garrison Artillery during the First World War. His experiences during the Battle of Messines, the Battle of Passchendaele an ...

'', published by Macmillan in 2010. In it he wrote that, having come across Skirth's memoir through his mother's research, he felt determined that it should be read by a wide audience. The book was favourably reviewed by Richard Holmes in the ''Evening Standard'' and Jonathan Gibbs in the ''Financial Times,'' ''Socialist Worker'' and the ''Sunday Express''. However, it came under attack from critics who objected to its pacifist politics and questioned its accuracy. In a revised introduction to the paperback edition (2011), Barrett defended the memoir, encouraging people to "read the book for yourself and make up your own mind who to believe". In 2012, Collins published ''

The Sugar Girls ''The Sugar Girls: Tales of Hardship, Love and Happiness in Tate & Lyle's East End'' is a bestselling work of narrative non-fiction based on interviews with women who worked in Tate & Lyle's East End factories in Silvertown from the mid-1940s on ...

'', a book co-written by Barrett with Nuala Calvi, telling the stories of women workers at

Tate & Lyle Tate & Lyle PLC is a British-headquartered, global supplier of food and beverage ingredients to industrial markets. It was originally a sugar refining business, but from the 1970s it began to diversify, eventually divesting its sugar business i ...

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

factories since the Second World War. It soon became a best-seller. In an article for History Workshop Online, Barrett wrote that, while their methodology was indebted to

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

, the end result was a work of narrative non-fiction. The authors were inspired by

Jennifer Worth Jennifer Louise Worth RN RM (; 25 September 1935 – 31 May 2011) was a British memoirist. She wrote a best-selling trilogy about her work as a nurse and midwife practising in the poverty-stricken East End of London in the 1950s: '' Call the ...

's ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a BBC period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony Ha ...

'', which was their "touchstone" as they wrote. The book is accompanied by a blog, where Barrett and Calvi discuss broader issues of life and work in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have univ ...

in the period covered by the book, as well as posting photographs and audio clips of the women they interviewed. In 2013, Barrett and Calvi's second book together, ''

GI Brides ''GI Brides: The Wartime Girls Who Crossed the Atlantic for Love'' is a bestselling book by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi, authors of ''The Sugar Girls''. It was published by HarperCollins on 29 August 2013. The book tells the true stories of f ...

'', was published by

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada *Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Illi ...

, based on interviews with British women who married Americans during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It soon became a ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' best-seller. The following year, a US edition of the book went into ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' nonfiction bestseller list. Barrett and Calvi's third collaboration for HarperCollins, ''The Girls Who Went to War'', tells the true stories of women who served in the Army, Navy and Air Force during the Second World War. The book was published on 7 May 2015, and launched the following day to commemorate the 70th anniversary of VE-Day. On 17 May 2015, it went into the ''Sunday Times'' bestseller list at number 6. In 2014, Barrett's first solo book, ''

'' was published by AA Publishing. The book tells the story of the

Post Office Rifles The Post Office Rifles was a unit of the British Army, first formed in 1868 from volunteers as part of the Volunteer Force, which later became the Territorial Force (and later the Territorial Army). The unit evolved several times until 1921, aft ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Work in theatre

Barrett also works as an actor and theatre director. He trained at

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

, graduating in 2006. In 2007 he played John Walker in Eastern Angles' production of

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

's ''We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea'' and was praised for "neatly avoid ngany jolly hockeysticks". In 2011 he was seen as W. T. Tutte in the BBC's ''Code-breakers'' and in 2012 as Paul Winder in

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

's ''

Locked up Abroad ''Banged Up Abroad'' (rebadged as ''Locked Up Abroad'' in Asia and the United States, and ''Jailed Abroad'' in India, for the National Geographic Channel) is a British documentary/docudrama television series created by Bart Layton that was prod ...

''. Barrett has often worked on the plays of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 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 nation ...

and other dramatists. He is the director of the short film ''Exit Strategy'' (2010), adapted from Shakespeare's ''

Troilus and Cressida ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Me ...

''. He played Frederick in a production of

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...

's '' The Rover'' at the Edinburgh Fringe 2006. The previous year he played the title role in

's ''

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father ...

'' at the festival. In 2004, he directed ''

All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the '' First Folio'' in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate regarding the dating of the composition of the play, with possible dates rangi ...

'' at the festival, with a cast including Joe Thomas of ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television teen sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 until 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager ...

''.

Bibliography

;Notes ;References * - Total pages: 324

External links

''The Sugar Girls'' website''GI Brides'' website''The Girls Who Went to War'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Duncan 1983 births Living people Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Writers from London People educated at the City of London School English biographers English memoirists 21st-century English writers