 | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "James Hawes" author – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
James Hawes (born 1960) is a British novelist and popular historian who has been an official bestseller in both genres. He has written theatrically released screen adaptations of two of his works, and has appeared as an on-screen contributor in BBCTV's Art That Made Us (2022) and Mozart: Rise of a Genius (2023).
Early life and education
Hawes grew up in Gloucestershire, Edinburgh and Shropshire. As an undergraduate, he studied German at Hertford College, Oxford. In 1985–1986 he was in charge of CADW excavations at Blaenavon Ironworks, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. He went on to study for a Ph.D. on Nietzsche and German literature 1900–1914 at University College, London in 1987–89, before lecturing in German at Maynooth University (Ollscoil Mhá Nuad), Sheffield University and Swansea University.
Writing
Hawes has published six novels, two of which he has adapted as films, starring Rhys Ifans and Michael Sheen respectively. The first two, A White Merc with Fins (1996) and Rancid Aluminium (1997) were both Sunday Times bestsellers.
In 2005 Random House published his novel Speak for England, which predicted Brexit so accurately that in April 2017 the Observer declared "it deserves some kind of prescience prize" (Observer 23.4.2017). His Kafka biography, Excavating Kafka (2008), was adapted as a BBCTV documentary, Kafka Uncovered (2009). Englanders and Huns, a detailed history of Anglo-German relationships from 1864 to 1914, was shortlisted in the Paddy Power Political Books of the Year 2015.
His journalism and book-reviews have been widely and prominently published.
He taught on the Oxford University MSt. in Creative Writing from 2008-2023. Among his former students are Kit de Waal (My Name is Leon) Catherine Chanter (The Well) and Anne Youngson (Meet me at the Museum).
His book The Shortest History of Germany was published in May 2017. It reached #2 in the Sunday Times list of non-fiction paperback bestsellers (May 2018). The Shortest History of England (2020) reached #4 in the Times list of non-fiction paperback bestsellers. His latest book is Brilliant Isles, a tie-in to the BBCTV series Art That Made Us (2022).
Bibliography
- A White Merc With Fins (1996)
- Rancid Aluminium (1997 – screenplay 2000)
- Dead Long Enough (2000 – screenplay 2005)
- White Powder, Green Light (2002)
- Speak for England (2005)
- My Little Armalite (2008)
- Excavating Kafka (2008 – published in the United States as Why You Should Read Kafka Before You Waste Your Life)
- Englanders and Huns: The Culture Clash which Led to the First World War (2014)
- The Shortest History of Germany (2017)
- The Shortest History of England (2020)
References
- J.C. (20 August 2017). "On almost every indicator, Germany's south is doing better than its north". The Economist.
- Hickling, Alfred (8 January 2005). "All for empire". The Guardian.
- Bayard, Louis (1 August 2008). "How Kafka-esque is Kafka?". Salon.
- Alberge, Dalya (2 August 2008). "Franz Kafka's porn brought out of the closet". The Times.
- Kavenna, Joanna (17 August 2008). "Franz Kafka, party animal". The Observer.
- "Englanders and Huns: The Culture-Clash which Led to the First World War (Hardback)". Waterstones.
- "The Shortest History of Germany". Old Street Publishing.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fr8j9