Sir Peter Stothard (born 28 February 1951) is a British author, journalist and critic. From 1992 to 2002 he was editor of ''

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 from 2002 to 2016 editor of ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', the only journalist to have held both roles. He writes books about Roman history and his four books of memoir cover both political and classical themes.

Early life

He was the son of Max Stothard, an electrical engineer who worked at the

Marconi Research Centre Marconi Research Centre is the former name of the current BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories facility at Great Baddow in Essex, United Kingdom. Under its earlier name, research at this site spanned military and civilian technology co ...

Great Baddow Great Baddow is a major village and civil parish in the Chelmsford borough of Essex, England. It is close to the city of Chelmsford and, with a population of over 13,000,Brentwood School, Essex Brentwood School is a Selective school, selective, independent school (UK), independent day school, day and boarding school in Brentwood, Essex, Brentwood, Essex, England in the Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition. The scho ...

(1962–68); and

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, where he became editor of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

student newspaper '' Cherwell.''

Career

Stothard joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

after leaving university, and wrote for the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', ''

New Society ''New Society'' was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1988. It drew on the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and s ...

'' and '' Plays and Players''. He joined ''

The 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 ...

'' in 1978 and ''

'' in 1981, becoming chief leader writer, deputy editor and, based in Washington, US editor. He published ''Thirty Days: An Inside Account of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

at War'' in 2004, based on observations inside

Downing Street Downing Street is a gated street in City of Westminster, Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In a cul-de-sac situated off Whiteh ...

during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. During a stage of Stothard's editorship, ''The Times'' reached an average sale of over 900,000 – the highest in its history. This was, in part, the result of the so-called "price war" that started in 1993 when ''The Times'' reduced its cover price and started intense circulation battles against ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. In 1999, he became involved in a legal dispute over political funding with the Conservative Party treasurer

Michael Ashcroft Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, (born 4 March 1946) is a British-Belizean businessman, pollster and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and wa ...

. Lord Ashcroft sued, but subsequently withdrew his suit after a statement agreed by both parties. Stothard was named as Editor of the Year in the same year by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

's '' What the Papers Say''. In 2000, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and was away from ''The Times'' for 10 months for successful treatment. It returned in 2012 and 2013. Whilst editor of ''The Times Literary Supplement,'' he often wrote about Greek and Roman literature. In 2010, his first book of memoir, ''On the Spartacus Road'', combined an account of the

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

uprising with elements of autobiography. His second, ''Alexandria, The Last Nights of Cleopatra'', extended the same form, including accounts of newspaper life alongside the story of his engagement with Greece, Rome and Egypt. ''Alexandria...'' won the 2013 Criticos Prize for literature on themes from ancient or modern Greece. ''The Senecans: Four Men and Margaret Thatcher'', his memoir of the 1980s and '90s, was published in September 2016. The critic Stuart Kelly described Stothard as "one of the most avant-garde practitioners of the form". He was chairman of judges for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction (2012) and president of the

Classical Association The Classical Association (CA) is an educational organisation which aims to promote and widen access to the study of Classics, classical subjects in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1903, the Classical Association supports and advances classical ...

. In 2017, he was appointed a trustee of the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

. Stothard appears as a character briefly in the first scene of a one-level ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise i ...

'' expansion videogame made by

Core Design Core Design Limited (known as Rebellion (Derby) Ltd between 2006 and 2010) was a British video game developer based in Derby. Founded in May 1988 by former Gremlin Graphics employees, it originally bore the name Megabrite until rebranding as Co ...

in association with ''The Times''. The expansion is called Times Exclusive Level and was released in 2000.

Personal life

Stothard is married to the biographer and critic Ruth Scurr. He has a son, Michael (born 1987), and a daughter, the novelist Anna Stothard (born 1983) from his marriage to novelist Sally Emerson (1980-2021), and six grandchildren from that marriage.

Honours

He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

for services to the newspaper industry in 2003. In 2013, he was awarded the President's Medal by the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

and 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 2023.

Bibliography

* ''Thirty Days: An Inside Account of Tony Blair at War'' (2004), * ''On the Spartacus Road: A Spectacular Journey Through Ancient Italy'' (2010), * ''Alexandria: The Last Night of Cleopatra'' (2013), * ''The Senecans: Four Men and Margaret Thatcher'' (2016), * ''The Last Assassin: The Hunt for the Killers of Julius Caesar'' (2020), * ''Crassus: The First Tycoon'' (2022), * ''Palatine: An Alternative History of the Caesars'' (2023)

Book reviews

References

External links

Debrett's People of Today
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stothard, Peter 1951 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford British male journalists British newspaper editors People educated at Brentwood School, Essex The Times people Knights Bachelor Recipients of the President's Medal (British Academy) Presidents of the Classical Association Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature