Nicholas Rankin (born 1950) is a British writer and broadcaster.

Biography

Rankin was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, England, but grew up in

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. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into th ...

and Christ Church, Oxford. He has lived and worked in

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and

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. He worked for the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

for 20 years. He was Chief Producer, Arts, at the

, when his eight-part series on ecology and evolution, ''A Green History of the Planet'', won two UN awards. He currently works as a freelance writer and broadcaster and lives in

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 ...

with his wife, the novelist Maggie Gee. He has one daughter,

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) *Rosa (surname) * Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places * 223 Rosa, an asteroid * Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States *Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, ...

. 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 600 Fellows, ele ...

in 2009.

Bibliography

Books

*''Dead Man's Chest: Travels after

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', '' Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

''. London,

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

, 1987. *''Telegram from

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the m ...

: The Extraordinary Life of George Steer, War Correspondent''. London: Faber and Faber, 2003. * *'' Ian Fleming's Commandos: The Story of

30 Assault Unit No. 30 Commando, from 1943 to 1946 known as 30 Assault Unit, was a British Commando unit during the Second World War, originally formed to gather intelligence. History Formation In a 2012 documentary Dieppe Uncovered, Canadian Professor David O ...

in WWII''. London: Faber and Faber, 2011. *

Critical studies and reviews of Rankin's work

;''Churchill's wizards'' * Reviewed by Andrew Roberts
"Churchill's Wizards by Nicholas Rankin: review"
in ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of '' The Daily Telegraph'', also published by the Tele ...

'' (5 November 2008) * Reviewed by Michael Bywater
"Churchill's Wizards: the British Genius for Deception, 1914-1945 - Nicholas Rankin"
in ''

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

'' (17 November 2008) * ;''Ian Fleming's commandos'' * Reviewed by

William Boyd William, Willie, Will or Bill Boyd may refer to: Academics * William Alexander Jenyns Boyd (1842–1928), Australian journalist and schoolmaster * William Boyd (educator) (1874–1962), Scottish educator * William Boyd (pathologist) (1885–1979 ...

"Ian Fleming's Commandos by Nicholas Rankin – review"
in ''The Guardian'' (22 October 2011) ;''Telegram from Guernica'' * Reviewed by Robert Macfarlane
"Write the good fight"
in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' (6 April 2003) * Reviewed by D. J. Taylor
"Their man in Africa"
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' (12 April 2003)

References

External links

* Nick Rankin
"Covering arts robustly in the UK"
BBC * Audio Slideshow interview with Nick Rankin o
The Interview Online
* Nick Ranki
interviewed for the Faber Podcast for Ian Fleming's Commandos
October 2011
Short video interview
with Faber and Faber, October 2011 * Q & A interview with Nick Rankin
discussing ''Ian Fleming's Commandos''
on Faber blog 1950 births Writers from Yorkshire People educated at Shrewsbury School Living people Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature {{UK-writer-stub