Patrick Marnham (born 1943) is an English writer, journalist and biographer. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society Literature in 1988. He is primarily known for his travel writing and for his biographies, where he has covered subjects as diverse as

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 ...

Jean Moulin Jean Pierre Moulin (; 20 June 1899 – 8 July 1943) was a French civil servant and hero of the French Resistance who succeeded in unifying the main networks of the Resistance in World War II, a unique act in Europe. He served as the first Presid ...

and

Mary Wesley Mary Aline Siepmann CBE (24 June 191230 December 2002), known by the pen name Mary Wesley, was an English novelist. During her career, she was one of Britain's most successful novelists, selling three million copies of her books, including ten ...

. His most recent book, published in September 2020, is ''War in the Shadows: Resistance, Deception and Betrayal in Occupied France,'' an investigation into the betrayal of a British resistance network in the summer of 1943.

Early life

Born in Jerusalem, Marnham is of English and Irish descent. He is the elder son of Ralph Marnham, who was appointed Surgeon to the Queen and knighted in 1953, and of his wife, Helena Mary Daly, who, as an Irish citizen, had volunteered on the outbreak of war for active service in the Middle East with 'the QA's', Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. Marnham was educated at St Philip's, a Catholic day school in Kensington, then by the Benedictines of Downside and at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

where he read Jurisprudence. He edited the university newspaper, '' Cherwell'', and was awarded a half-blue for skiing. He was called to the Bar by the Benchers of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1966 but instead of embarking on a legal career become a reporter for ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'', where he shared an office with both Paul Foot and

Auberon Waugh Auberon Alexander Waugh ( ; 17 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) was a British journalist and novelist, and eldest son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was widely known by his nickname "Bron". After a traditional classical education at Downsid ...

. As a script writer for the BBC TV satire programme ''At The Eleventh Hour'', his colleagues included

Roger McGough Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...

Miriam Margolyes Miriam Margolyes ( ; born 18 May 1941) is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Marti ...

, Richard Neville,

Leonard Rossiter Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his highest profile for his television comedy roles starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series '' Rising Damp'' from 19 ...

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes and founded t ...

and

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

, among others. The programme was directed by Tony Smith. Marnham later wrote and presented ''The Messengers,'' a Granada TV programme on Film.

Career

In the 1970s, as a contributor to ''Private Eye'' with a fortnightly column he described a dispute among the gambling fraternity of the Clermont Club, following the 'Lucan murder' case. The crime caused a bitter quarrel between

Lord Lucan Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 8 November 1974, declared dead 27 October 1999), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer and gambler who vanished in 1974 after being suspected of killing ...

's friends that led to the suicide of the impecunious artist and ''flaneur'' Dominic Elwes. Marnham's article provoked the financier

James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His controversial business and finance career led to ongoing clashes with British media, fr ...

to prosecute ''Private Eye'' for criminal libel. Marnham and the editor Richard Ingrams were committed for trial at the Old Bailey and had to appear in the dock of No. 1 Court before Goldsmith decided to drop the case. Marnham described the legal battle in ''Trail of Havoc: In the Steps of Lord Lucan.'' Marnham and James Comyn QC, the ''Eyes barrister, became firm friends and Comyn, by then a High Court judge, proposed that they should embark on a new study of the miracles at Lourdes - to be published anonymously 'by two barristers'. Nothing came of this suggestion but following the Goldsmith prosecution Marnham was asked to write the first history of ''Private Eye''. His account was bitterly resented by the paper's first editor

Christopher Booker Christopher John Penrice Booker (7 October 1937 – 3 July 2019) was an English journalist and author. He was a founder and first editor of the satirical magazine '' Private Eye'' in 1961. From 1990 onward he was a columnist for ''The Sunday Te ...

, who tried to prevent its appearance. The book was eventually published in 1982. A brief appearance in the ''Sunday Times Best Sellers'' list was terminated when the management of the magazine declined to order a reprint. In 1968 Marnham had left ''Private Eye'' to become assistant features editor of the ''Daily Telegraph Magazine'' and a special correspondent for the ''Daily Telegraph,'' reporting from Africa and the Middle East''.'' His first book, ''Road to Katmandu'', described an overland journey to Nepal, hitchhiking along 'the hippy trail'. Marnham's early writing career was devoted to travel. In the 1970s, he journeyed extensively in Africa, where he was nearly killed by a rhinoceros, an episode described in his second book, ''Fantastic Invasion.'' The book painted a scathing picture of imperial legacies and neocolonial interference in African politics. It was praised by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

and by

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing ( Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist. She was born to British parents in Qajar Iran, Persia, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where ...

, who described it as "an exhilarating Swiftian excursion into human folly". But Edward Hoagland in ''The New Republic'' found it too pessimistic, a view echoed by Joseph Lelyveld in the ''New York Times Book Review''. ''Fantastic Invasion'' had included a chapter that was critical of the policy of USAID in Africa. In 1977, Marnham had been asked to write a report for the

Minority Rights Group Minority Rights Group (MRG) is an international human rights organisation, headquartered in London, with offices in Budapest and Kampala. The organisation's mission statement is to secure rights for ethnic, national, religious, linguistic mi ...

on the 'Nomads of the Sahel'. The report argued that a widely publicised famine in West Africa had not in fact taken place. Instead, a serious drought had been skilfully transformed by a consortium of development experts in USAID, FAO and various British NGOs to undermine the West African economy and increase their own influence in the region. The effect of this intervention on nomadic life in the Sahel was disastrous. In 1980, he was appointed Literary Editor of ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' under

Alexander Chancellor Alexander Surtees Chancellor, CBE (4 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was a British journalist and editor. He was the editor of ''The Spectator'' from 1975 to 1984. Background Alexander Chancellor was born in 1940 in Dane End, Hertfordshir ...

. At that time, he led a campaign with Richard West and Auberon Waugh for the installation of a British monument to honour those repatriated to Soviet concentration camps as a result of the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (), held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three sta ...

. Despite fierce resistance from the Foreign Office and the Soviet Embassy, a prominent memorial was eventually erected in South Kensington in 1986. He left ''The Spectator'' to travel in Mexico and through the war zones of Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, an experience which he described in ''So Far from God: A Journey to Central America.'' Marnham's travel writing was described in the ''

Dictionary of Literary Biography The ''Dictionary of Biography in literature, Literary Biography'' is a specialist biographical dictionary dedicated to literature. Published by Gale (Cengage), Gale, the 375-volume setRogers, 106. covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods ...

'' as covering "complex cultural histories" and tackling "substantial questions about belief, skepticism, communal responsibility and individual freedom... In the tradition of such anatomizers of late British imperialism as Graham Greene,

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list.

and

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

, Marnham documents with tragic irony and self-deprecating wit the fate of parts of the world that were once administered - and are still in many ways controlled - by Europe and the United States... He uses common sense and Orwellian honesty to puncture political illusions and cultural misconceptions about the Third World". In 1986, Marnham became the first Paris correspondent of the newly-launched broadsheet newspaper ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. With his travelling curtailed, he switched to biography in the 1990s, choosing as his first three subjects a Belgian novelist, a Mexican muralist and a French national hero.

Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernar ...

wrote that his portrait of Georges Simenon "adds to our understanding not only of Simenon's art but the art of the novel itself".

JG Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...

described ''The Death of Jean Moulin'' as "a brilliant mix of political thriller and wartime history". In 1992, following Richard Ingrams's decision to resign from ''Private Eye,'' Marnham joined a small group of journalists - including Alexander Chancellor, Auberon Waugh, Stephen Glover and John McEwan - who banded together to launch ''The Oldie'' magazine with Ingrams as editor. The venture was largely bankrolled by the Palestinian publisher

Naim Attallah Naim Ibrahim Attallah (, 1 May 1931 – 2 February 2021) was a Palestinian-British businessman and writer. He was the publisher of Quartet Books and the owner of The Women's Press. The Palestinian-born entrepreneur was described by ''The Guard ...

, although most of those originally involved in it lost money. In 2008, Marnham started to work with the Belgian film director Manu Riche and the British screenwriter and historian Steve Hawes on ''The Man Who Wasn't Maigret'', a feature film for the French channel ''Antenne 2'' that was partly inspired by Marnham's biography of Georges Simenon. This venture was followed by a more ambitious project - a film and a book covering the same subject. ''Snake Dance: Journeys Beneath a Nuclear Sky'', was published in 2013. It marked a return to travel writing and described journeys to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, New Mexico and Japan, tracing the story of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was accompanied by a prize-winning film with the same title, directed by Manu Riche and written and narrated by Marnham. In 2019 Marnham was asked to write the Introduction to the

Everyman Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It began in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division ...

's edition of

VS Naipaul VS, Vs or vs may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Vs'' (film), or ''All Superheroes Must Die'', a 2011 horror film * ''Vs.'' (game show), 1999 * "VS.", an episode of ''Prison Break'' Gaming * ''Vs.'' (video g ...

's ''

A Bend in the River ''A Bend in the River'' is a 1979 novel by Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul. The novel, telling the story of Salim, a merchant in post-colonial mid-20th century Africa, is one of Naipaul's best known works and was widely praised. It was shortlist ...

.'' Marnham's most recent book is ''War in the Shadows: Resistance, Deception and Betrayal in Occupied France'' (2020)'','' a controversial investigation into the betrayal of PROSPER, an SOE resistance network active in France in the summer of 1943. He served for 5 years as a judge of the Duff Cooper Prize and was a trustee of the charity CRY, Cardiac Risk in the Young, from 2008 to 2018. His work has been translated into 12 languages. His books have won the

Thomas Cook Travel Book Award The Thomas Cook Travel Book Award originated as an initiative of Thomas Cook AG in 1980, with the aim of encouraging and rewarding the art of literary travel writing. The awards stopped in 2005 (2004 being the last year an award was given). One ye ...

and the

Marsh Biography Award {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Marsh Biography Award was a British literary award, given to the author of the best biography written in the previous two years by a British author. It was established in 1987 and was presented biennially until ...

. Marsh Christian Trust website, retrieved October 29, 2010

Books

Travel books

* ''Road to Katmandu'' (1971) * ''Lourdes, A Modern Pilgrimage'' (1980) * ''So Far from God: A Journey to Central America'' (1985) * ''Snake Dance: Journeys Beneath a Nuclear Sky'' (2013)

Biography

* '' The Man Who Wasn't Maigret: A Portrait of Georges Simenon'' (1992) *''Dreaming with His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera'' (1998) *''Wild Mary: The Life of Mary Wesley'' (2006) *''Darling Pol: Letters of Mary Wesley and Eric Siepmann 1944–1967'' (2017)

Current affairs

*''Fantastic Invasion: Dispatches from Contemporary Africa'' (1980) *''The Private Eye Story: the first 21 years'' (1982) *''Trail of Havoc: In the Steps of Lord Lucan'' (1988)

France

*''Crime and the Académie Française: Dispatches from Paris'' (1993) *''The Death of Jean Moulin: Biography of a Ghost'' (2000) *''War in the Shadows: Resistance, Deception and Betrayal in Occupied France'' (September 2020)

Awards

* Winner of the 1985

for ''So Far From God: Journey to Central America'' * Winner of the

for ''The Man Who Wasn't Maigret: Portrait of Georges Simenon'' *Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (elected 1988)

References

External links

Literary Agent: Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates Ltd. https://www.davidhigham.co.uk/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Marnham, Patrick English biographers 1943 births Living people People educated at Downside School English male non-fiction writers