Andrew Michael Duncan Lycett (born 1948)

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

is an English biographer and journalist.

Early life

Born in

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber ...

, to Peter Norman Lycett Lycett and Joan Mary Duncan (née Day), Lycett spent some of his childhood in Tanganyika, where his father established a preparatory school, The Southern Highlands School. Peter Lycett's mother was of the Burns-Lindow family of Ingwell an
Ehen Hall

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. Lycett was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

and studied history at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

Career

Lycett worked for a while for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' as a correspondent in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He has written several well-received biographies of literary figures, and is perhaps best known for his biography of

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

, first published in 1995. He has written more widely on the lives and work of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

and

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 2009 and he is a Fellow in 2014."Current RSL Fellows"
. RSL. Retrieved 9 April 2014. He lives and writes in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Bibliography

Books

* ** ** * ''

'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995) ; US title, ''Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond'' ( Turner Publishing, 1995) * ''From Diamond Sculls to Golden Handcuffs: A History of Rowe & Pitman'' (Robert Hale, 1998) – a history of the stockbroking firm established by George Duncan Rowe and Frederick I. Pitman * ''

'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999) * ''

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

: A New Life'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003) * '' Conan Doyle: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007) ; US title, ''The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'' (Free Press, 2007) * ''

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...

: A Life of Sensation'' ( Hutchinson & Co., 2013) * ''Conan Doyle's Wide World:

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

and Beyond'' (Tauris Parke, 2020) * ''The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes: The Inspiration Behind the World's Greatest Detective'' (Frances Lincoln, 2023)

as Editor

* ''Rudyard Kipling: Selected Poems'' (The

Folio Society The Folio Society is an independent London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it became an employee ownership trust in 2021. It produces illustrated hardback fine press edit ...

, 2004) * ''Kipling Abroad: Traffics and Discoveries from Burma to Brazil'' (I. B. Tauris, 2010) * ''Kipling and the Sea: Voyages and Discoveries from North Atlantic to South Pacific'' (I. B. Tauris, 2014) * ''Kipling and War: From Tommy to My Boy Jack'' (I. B. Tauris, 2015)

Book reviews

References

External links

* Living people 1948 births English biographers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature History Today people People educated at Charterhouse School {{UK-writer-stub