Gareth Russell is a Northern Irish historian, author, and broadcaster.

Early life and education

Gareth Russell was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He attended Down High Grammar School, and later graduated from

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Located on New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom, it occupies the site of two of the university's academic halls of the Univers ...

, where he studied modern history. Russell completed a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. He currently divides his time between Belfast, London and New York.

Career

Russell is the author of a series of plays. In July 2011, his first novel ''Popular'' was published by

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

, as the first in a new series of novels following the lives of a group of Belfast teenagers. It was published in German in 2014. A sequel to ''Popular'', titled ''The Immaculate Deception,'' was published in November 2012. Both novels were subsequently adapted for the stage in Northern Ireland, followed by a final theatrical sequel, ''Say You'll Remember Me'', which received its first performance in 2016. In August 2014, Russell's first non-fiction book, ''The Emperors: How Europe's Rulers were Destroyed by World War One'', was published by Amberley Publishing. In 2017, his biography of English queen consort

Catherine Howard Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542) was Queen of England from July 1540 until November 1541 as the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a first cousin to Anne Boleyn (the second ...

was published, based on research undertaken between 2010 and 2016. It was published by Simon & Schuster in the US and Canada, and HarperCollins in the UK, Ireland, and most of the Commonwealth. It was a finalist for the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography award in 2017, which was won that year by Edmund Gordon's biography of

Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...

. In 2019, his account of the ''Titanic'' disaster was published. It was named a Book of the Year by ''

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 ...

'' and a Best History Book of 2019 by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''. In 2022, his biography of

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

was published. It was his second book to become a Times Book of the Year. In the same year, he was a main contributor to

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...

's and

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

's coverage for the death and funeral of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and accession of

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

. In 2023, Russell's ''The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court'' was published. It was named a

BBC History ''BBC History'' is a British magazine devoted to both British and world history, and aimed at readers of all levels of knowledge and interest. There are thirteen issues a year, one each month and a Christmas special. The magazine is published, ...

Book of the Year. BBC History Magazine, Christmas 2023, p. 69.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Popular'' (2011) * ''The Immaculate Deception'' (2012)

Non-Fiction

* ''The Emperors: How Europe's Rulers were destroyed by World War I'' (2014) * ''An Illustrated Introduction to the Tudors'' (2014) * ''A History of the English Monarchy from Boadicea to Elizabeth I'' (2015) * ''Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of

, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII'' (US title) (2017) **In the UK, this book's subtitle is ''The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII'' * ''The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

and the End of the

Edwardian Era In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

'' (2019), originally published as ''The Darksome Bounds of a Failing World'' in the UK and Ireland * ''Do Let's Have Another Drink: The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother'' (2022). In the US and Canada, the book is ''Do Let's Have Another Drink: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother''. * ''The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court'' (2023) * ''Queen James: The Lives and Loves of Britain's First King'' (London: William Collins, 2025).

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Gareth Russell
Author's page
GarethRussell
Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Gareth Male novelists from Northern Ireland Writers from Belfast Living people People educated at Down High School Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century historians from Northern Ireland Alumni of Queen's University Belfast