Nicholas Rankin (born 1950) is an English writer and broadcaster.

Biography

Rankin was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but grew up in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. His father was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

and

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 ...

. He has lived and worked in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He worked for the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

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 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 ...

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

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: Plants and animals * ''Rosa'' (plant), the genus of roses * Rosa (sea otter), a sea otter that has become popular on the internet * Rosa (cow), a Spanish-born cow People * Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) * San ...

. 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.

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, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply 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, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 1987. *''Telegram from Guernica: The Extraordinary Life of George Steer, War Correspondent''. London: Faber and Faber, 2003. * *''

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 ...

's Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit 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, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily 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 British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' (17 November 2008) * ;''Ian Fleming's Commandos'' * Reviewed by William Boyd
"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 published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

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

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' (12 April 2003) ;''Dead Man's Chest: Travels after Robert Louis Stevenson'' * a critical assessment is included in Lesley Graham's essay "Questions of Identity on the Stevenson Trail in Scotland", in Brown, Ian and Desmarest, Clarisse Godard (eds.), (2023), ''Writing Scottishness: Literature and the Shaping of Scottish National Identities'', Association for Scottish Literature, Glasgow, pp. 138 - 156,

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