James Hawes black and white photograph 2019

James M. Hawes (born 1960) is a British novelist and popular historian who has been an official bestseller in both genres. He has written theatrically released screen adaptations of two of his works, and has appeared as an on-screen contributor in BBCTV's ''Art That Made Us'' (2022) and ''Mozart: Rise of a Genius'' (2023).

Early life and education

Hawes grew up in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, Edinburgh and Shropshire. As an undergraduate, he studied German at

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

. In 1985–1986 he was in charge of CADW excavations at Blaenavon Ironworks, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. He went on to study for a Ph.D. on

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

and German literature 1900–1914 at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

in 1987–89, before lecturing in German at

Maynooth University Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

(Ollscoil Mhá Nuad),

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

and

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

Writing

Hawes has published six novels, two of which he has adapted as films, starring

Rhys Ifans Rhys Owain Evans (; born 22 July 1967), known as Rhys Ifans, is a Welsh actor. He has portrayed roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), '' Kevin & Perry Go Large'' (2000), and '' Enduring Love'' (2004), in addition to Xenophilius Lovegood in ''Harry ...

and

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1992), ''Don't Fool wi ...

respectively. The first two, ''A White Merc with Fins'' (1996) and ''Rancid Aluminium'' (1997) were both ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday 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 N ...

'' bestsellers. In 2005 Random House published his novel ''Speak for England'', which predicted Brexit so accurately that in April 2017 the ''Observer'' declared "it deserves some kind of prescience prize" (Observer 23.4.2017). His Kafka biography, ''Excavating Kafka'' (2008), was adapted as a BBCTV documentary, ''Kafka Uncovered'' (2009). ''Englanders and Huns'', a detailed history of Anglo-German relationships from 1864 to 1914, was shortlisted in the Paddy Power Political Books of the Year 2015. His journalism and book-reviews have been widely and prominently published. He taught on the Oxford University MSt. in Creative Writing from 2008-2023. Among his former students are

Kit de Waal Mandy Theresa O'Loughlin (born 26 July 1960), known professionally as Kit de Waal, is a British/Irish writer. Her debut novel, ''My Name Is Leon'', was published by Penguin Books in June 2016. After securing the publishing deal with Penguin, De ...

(''My Name is Leon'') Catherine Chanter (''The Well'') and Anne Youngson (''Meet me at the Museum''). His book ''The Shortest History of Germany'' was published in May 2017. It reached #2 in the Sunday Times list of non-fiction paperback bestsellers (May 2018). ''The Shortest History of England'' (2020) reached #4 in the Times list of non-fiction paperback bestsellers. His latest book is ''Brilliant Isles'', a tie-in to the BBCTV series ''Art That Made Us'' (2022).

Bibliography

*''A White Merc With Fins'' (1996) *''

Rancid Aluminium ''Rancid Aluminium'' is a film based on the 1998 novel of the same name by James Hawes. It was released on January 21, 2000. Cast *Rhys Ifans * Joseph Fiennes * Tara FitzGerald * Sadie Frost *Steven Berkoff *Olegar Fedoro * Keith Allen * Dani B ...

'' (1997 – screenplay 2000) *''Dead Long Enough'' (2000 – screenplay 2005) *''White Powder, Green Light'' (2002) *''Speak for England'' (2005) *''My Little Armalite'' (2008) *''Excavating Kafka'' (2008 – published in the United States as ''Why You Should Read Kafka Before You Waste Your Life'') *''Englanders and Huns: The Culture Clash which Led to the First World War'' (2014) *''The Shortest History of Germany'' (2017) *''The Shortest History of England'' (2020)

References

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fr8j9

External links

Hawes' website

Hawes at the British Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawes, James 21st-century English novelists Academics of Oxford Brookes University 1960 births Living people English male novelists 21st-century English male writers