Gareth Russell (author)

Early life and education

Gareth Russell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended Down High Grammar School, and later graduated from St Peter's College, Oxford, where he studied modern history. Russell completed a Master's degree in medieval history at Queen's University, Belfast. He currently divides his time between Belfast, London and New York.

Career

Russell is the author of a series of plays. In July 2011, his first novel Popular was published by Penguin, as the first in a new series of novels following the lives of a group of Belfast teenagers. It was published in German in 2014. A sequel to Popular, titled The Immaculate Deception, was published in November 2012. Both novels were subsequently adapted for the stage in Northern Ireland, followed by a final theatrical sequel, Say You'll Remember Me, which received its first performance in 2016.

In August 2014, Russell's first non-fiction book, The Emperors: How Europe's Rulers were Destroyed by World War One, was published by Amberley Publishing. In 2017, his biography of English queen consort Catherine Howard was published, based on research undertaken between 2010 and 2016. It was published by Simon & Schuster in the US and Canada, and HarperCollins in the UK, Ireland, and most of the Commonwealth. It was a finalist for the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography award in 2017, which was won that year by Edmund Gordon's biography of Angela Carter. In 2019, his account of the Titanic disaster was published. It was named a Book of the Year by The Times and a Best History Book of 2019 by The Daily Telegraph.

In 2022, his biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was published. It was his second book to become a Times Book of the Year. In the same year, he was a main contributor to BBC Northern Ireland's and Al Jazeera's coverage for the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and accession of Charles III.

In 2023, Russell's The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court was published. It was named a BBC History Book of the Year. In 2025, his book Queen James was published. It was a BBC History and Daily Mail Book of the Year. It was published in North America under the title The Six Loves of James I.

Bibliography

Novels

• Popular (2011)
• The Immaculate Deception (2012)

Non-Fiction

• The Emperors: How Europe's Rulers were destroyed by World War I (2014)
• An Illustrated Introduction to the Tudors (2014)
• A History of the English Monarchy from Boadicea to Elizabeth I (2015)
• Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII (US title) (2017)
  • In the UK, this book's subtitle is The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII
• The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era (2019), originally published as The Darksome Bounds of a Failing World in the UK and Ireland
• Do Let's Have Another Drink: The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (2022). In the US and Canada, the book is Do Let's Have Another Drink: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
• The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court (2023)
• Queen James: The Lives and Loves of Britain's First King (London: William Collins, 2025). Also to be published as The Six Loves of James I. Atria Books.

Notes

References

References

1. "About".
2. Author biography, ''Young and Damned and Fair'' (UK edition, 2017), Author Biography, ''The Palace'' (UK edition, 2023)
3. "Theatre Review: Popular -'Say You'll Remember Me' (At the MAC) | EILE Magazine".
4. "Off with their heads: 'The Emperors: How Europe's Rulers Were Destroyed by the First World War'".
5. (17 April 2018). "Young and Damned and Fair".
6. "Angela Carter biography wins award | The Spectator".
7. Lisle, Leanda de. "The Darksome Bounds of a Failing World by Gareth Russell review — how the Titanic sank the Edwardian era".
8. Marriott, Robbie Millen | James. "The 50 best books of 2019".
9. Heffer, Simon. (18 December 2019). "The best new history books to buy for Christmas 2019". The Telegraph.
10. (4 February 2022). "William Collins signs "amusing and astonishing" collection of stories about the Queen Mother".
11. (26 November 2022). "6 best books on the royal family 2022". [[The Times]].
12. "The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court". HarperCollins.
13. "The Palace".
14. BBC History Magazine, Christmas 2023, p. 69.
15. https://www.garethrussell.co.uk/queen-james