John Van der Kiste (born 15 September 1954 in

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

author, son of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

Guy Van der Kiste (1912–99). He was educated at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the t ...

in Tiverton, where he briefly formed a rock band Cobweb with fellow pupil

Miles Tredinnick Miles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan, (born Warrington 18 February 1955) is a rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screenwriter. In the 1970s, he was the lead singer with the British rock band London.Spicer, Al, (2006) ''The Rough Gui ...

, later the vocalist with the new wave band

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and subsequently a playwright and scriptwriter, and read librarianship at

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was his ...

Technical College, where he edited the librarianship students' magazine ''Stamp Out''. His first book, ''Frederick III'', appeared in 1981, and since then has become a prolific author of royal and historical biographies, as well as books on local history, true crime, rock music, fiction and drama. He is also a contributor to the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' and ''Guinness Rockopaedia'', and has produced articles on historical, musical and art subjects in national and local journals, including ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'', ''Royalty Digest'', ''European Royal History Journal'', ''Best of British (magazine), Best of British'', ''

BBC History Magazine ''BBC History Magazine'' is a British publication devoted to both British and world history and aimed at all levels of knowledge and interest. The publication releases thirteen editions a year, one per month and a Christmas special edition, an ...

'', ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'', ''Antique Collector'', '' This England'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' and ''

Gibbons Stamp Monthly ''Gibbons Stamp Monthly'' (GSM) is a leading British philatelic magazine which can trace its roots back to 1890. GSM is published by the famous stamps and collectables firm of Stanley Gibbons and each issue includes updates to their various cata ...

''. He has reviewed books and records for the press, written CD booklet notes, and between 1991 and 1996 edited and published the 1970s rock fanzine ''Keep on Rockin''. In 2002, he was a consultant for the BBC TV documentary ''The King, the Kaiser and the Tsar'', first broadcast in January 2003. More recently he has contributed articlss to the BBC History Extra website. In 2015, "I'll Never Walk Away", a song which he co-wrote with

under his music business alias Riff Regan, and Steve Voice, appeared on Regan's solo album ''Milestones''. He also played harmonica on 'Cling to Black Leather', a track on ''The Hell For Leather Mob'', released in 2020 by Regan and Voice's band

. He lives in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. Between 1978 and 2017 he was an assistant in the Library and Learning Resources Centre at

City College Plymouth City College Plymouth is a tertiary institution and further education college in South West England offering a range of technical, professional and vocational qualifications, Apprenticeships, Access to Higher Education and Foundation Degree cour ...

, formerly the College of Further Education, where he was commissioned to write a history of the college for internal circulation.

Books

Historical and royal biography

* ''Frederick III, German Emperor 1888'' (1981) * ''Queen Victoria's Family: A Select Bibliography'' (1982) * ''Dearest Affie:

Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1 ...

, Queen Victoria's Second Son, 1844-1900'' (with Bee Jordaan) (1984) * ''Queen Victoria's Children'' (1986) * ''Windsor and Habsburg: The British and Austrian Reigning Houses 1848-1922'' (1987) * ''Edward VII's Children'' (1989) * ''Princess Victoria Melita, Grand Duchess Cyril of Russia, 1876-1936'' (1991) * ''George V's Children'' (1991) * ''George III's Children'' (1992) * ''Crowns in a Changing World: The British and European Monarchies 1901-36'' (1993) * ''Kings of the Hellenes: The Greek Kings 1863-1974'' (1994) * ''Childhood at court 1819-1914'' (1995) * ''Northern Crowns: The Kings of Modern Scandinavia'' (1996) * ''King George II and Queen Caroline'' (1997) * ''The Romanovs 1818-1959: Alexander II of Russia and his Family'' (1998) * ''Kaiser Wilhelm II: Germany's Last Emperor'' (1999) * ''The Georgian Princesses'' (2000) * ''Dearest Vicky, Darling Fritz: Queen Victoria's Eldest Daughter and the German Emperor'' (2001) * ''Royal Visits in Devon and Cornwall'' (2002) * ''Once a Grand Duchess: Xenia, Sister of Nicholas II'' (with Coryne Hall) (2002) * ''William and Mary'' (2003) * ''Emperor Francis Joseph: Life, Death and the Fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire'' (2005) * ''Sons, Servants and Statesmen: The Men in Queen Victoria’s Life'' (2006) * ''A Divided Kingdom: The Spanish Monarchy from Isabel to Juan Carlos'' (2007) * ''Jonathan Wild: Conman and Cutpurse'' (2009) * ''William John Wills: Pioneer of the Australian Outback'' (2011) * ''Alfred'' (2013), revised version of ''Dearest Affie'' * ''The Prussian Princesses'' (2014) * ''Prince Henry of Prussia'' (2015) * ''Princess Helena: Queen Victoria's Third Daughter'' (2015) * ''The Last German Empress: A Life of Empress Augusta Victoria, Consort of Emperor William II'' (2015) * ''Charlotte and Feodora'' (2015) * ''Dictionary of Royal Biographers'' (2015) * ''The First German Empress: Empress Augusta, Consort of Emperor William I'' (2016) * ''Queen Victoria and the European Empires'' (2016) * ''Daughter of Prussia: Louise, Grand Duchess of Baden, and her Family'' (2017) * ''Of Royalty and Drink'' (2017) * ''The End of the German Monarchy'' (2017) * ''The Dukes of Clarence'' (2018) * ''Sarah Forbes Bonetta'' (2018) * ''The Dukes of Cumberland'' (2019) * ''The Heroine of Gaeta'' (2019) * ''Hugh Shortland'' (2019) * ''The End of the Habsburg Monarchy'' (2019) * ''George FitzClarence'' (2020) * ''James II and the First Modern Revolution'' (2021) * ''William IV: The Last Hanoverian King of Britain'' (2022)

Music

* ''Roxeventies: Popular Music in Britain 1970-79'' (1982) * ''The Roy Wood Story'' (1986) * ''Beyond the Summertime: The Mungo Jerry Story'' (with Derek Wadeson) (1990) * ''Gilbert & Sullivan's Christmas'' (2000) - anthology * ''Roy Wood: The Move, Wizzard and Beyond'' (2014) * ''The Little Book of The Beatles'' (2014) * ''Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, Before and After'' (2015) * ''Pop Pickers and Music Vendors'' (2016) * ''A Beatles Miscellany'' (2016) * ''We Can Swing Together: The Story of Lindisfarne'' (2017) * ''Electric Light Orchestra: Song by Song'' (2017) * ''While You See a Chance: The Steve Winwood Story'' (2018) * ''Led Zeppelin: Song by Song'' (2018) * ''All Around My Hat: The Steeleye Span Story'' (2019) * ''Kate Bush: Song by Song'' (2021) * ''1970: A Year in Rock: The Year Rock Became Mainstream'' (2021) * ''Decades: Mott the Hoople and Ian Hunter in the 1970s'' (2022) * ''Decades: Free and Bad Company in the 1970s'' (2022)

Local history

* ''Devon Murders'' (2006) * ''Devonshire's Own'' (2007) * ''Cornish Murders'' (with Nicola Sly) (2007) * ''Somerset Murders'' (with Nicola Sly) (2008) * ''A Grim Almanac of Devon'' (2008) * ''Cornwall's Own'' (2008) * ''Plymouth: History and Guide'' (2009) * ''West Country Murders'' (with Nicola Sly) (2009) * ''Surrey Murders'' (2009) * ''A Grim Almanac of Cornwall'' (2009) * ''Durham Murders and Misdemeanours'' (2009) * ''Berkshire Murders'' (2010) * ''Ivybridge and South Brent Through Time'' (with Kim Van der Kiste) (2010) * ''More Cornish Murders'' (with Nicola Sly) (2010) * ''Dartmoor from Old Photographs'' (2010) * ''More Somerset Murders'' (with Nicola Sly) (2011) * ''A Grim Almanac of Hampshire'' (2011) * ''Plymouth Book of Days'' (2011) * ''More Devon Murders'' (2011) * ''The Little Book of Devon'' (2011) * ''The Little Book of Cornwall'' (2013) * ''Plymouth: A City at War'' (2014) * ''Hugh Shortland'' (2019)

Fiction

* ''The Man on the Moor'' (2004) * ''Olga and David'' (2014) * ''Elmore Sounds'' (2015) * ''Always There'' (2015)

Drama, verse and miscellaneous

* ''The Big Royal Quiz Book'' (2014) * ''The Big Music Quiz Book'' (2015) * ''A Mere Passing Shadow'' (2015) * ''The Man on the Moor'' (2015) - a dramatisation of his novel * ''Dartmoor and other Places: Collected Poems 1975-2015'' (2015) * ''C.S. Forester’s Crime Noir'' (2018) * ''South Brent and Beyond'' (2019) - paintings

Sources

*''International Writers and Authors Who's Who''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Der Kiste, John 1954 births Living people People from Wendover 21st-century English novelists English male novelists English biographers English non-fiction writers People educated at Blundell's School 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers Male biographers