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Andrew Norman Wilson (born 27 October 1950)"A. N. Wilson"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
is an English writer and newspaper columnist known for his critical biographies, novels and works of popular history. He is an occasional columnist for the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' and a former columnist for the London ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
''. He has been an occasional contributor to ''
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 ...
'', ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...
'' and ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
''.


Family and education

Wilson was born in
Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
in
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...
to a father who became the managing director of
Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...
, the pottery company. He was first educated at St Dominic's Priory School in Stone before moving to Hillstone School (subsequently incorporated into
Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...
) in
Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and ...
,
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
, and then at
Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
from the age of 13, where he read
Mao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC ...
and
Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
in his spare time. While at Rugby, he wrote an article for the school magazine arguing that public schools should be abolished. The national press became interested in the story, with the ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
'' headlining its account "Red rebel in Tom Brown's school". "Reporters arrived at the school gates, wanting to interview me, but my housemaster, wisely, would not let me talk to them", Wilson told
Hunter Davies Edward Hunter Davies (born 7 January 1936) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster. His books include the only authorised biography of the Beatles. Early life Davies was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four y ...
in 1993. Wilson went to
New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...
, graduating in 1972. He had originally entered
St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an Anglican theological college and one of five permanent private halls of the University of Oxford, England. It will cease to be a permanent private hall in 2023. The college has a very small proportion of undergraduate s ...
, a
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
seminary, with the intention of being ordained as a priest, but left the college after only one year of study, and five years after graduation published the novel ''Unguarded Hours'' (1978) based upon his experiences at the seminary and his perception of its homoerotic atmosphere. Wilson taught English at
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Small things grow in harmony , established = , closed = , coordinates = , pushpin_map = , type = Independent day school , religion = Church ...
, for two years and then spent seven years as a lecturer in medieval literature at St Hugh's College and New College, Oxford. He married the Shakespearean scholar
Katherine Duncan-Jones Katherine Dorothea Duncan-Jones, (13 May 1941 – 16 October 2022) was an English literature and Shakespeare scholar. She was a Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge (1965–1966) and then Somerville College, Oxford (1966–2001). She was also Profess ...
in 1971, before his graduation. They had two daughters, Emily Wilson (born 1971) and Beatrice "Bee" Wilson (born 1974), and divorced in 1990. He is now married to the art historian Ruth Guilding.


Publications

A prolific journalist and author of nonfiction, Wilson has also written over 20 works of fiction, for which he has won the
Somerset Maugham Prize The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...
and the
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdo ...
. His novels also include such historical works as ''The Potter’s Hand'' (a study of the family life of
Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indus ...
), '' Resolution'', a fictional account of Captain James Cook's second voyage, and ''
Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
'', about the Profumo affair. His 2007 novel ''Winnie and Wolf'', about the relationship between
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
and
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's English daughter-in-law, was long-listed for the
Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
. Novels set in the present include ''The Vicar of Sorrows'', about a clergyman who has lost his faith dealing with the death of his mother, and '' Dream Children'', about
paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty ...
. In the early 1990s, in the wake of the fatwa on Salman Rushdie and the continuing troubles in Northern Ireland, Wilson published a pamphlet, ''Against Religion'', in the
Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...
CounterBlasts series. He wrote biographies of Jesus and St Paul as well as a history of
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
in the 19th century titled ''God's Funeral'', describing its growth as due to influences ranging from
David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment ph ...
to
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
. These and many other of his books, such as those on
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
( Whitbread Award for best biography of 1988),
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...
and
Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. ...
, are simultaneously sympathetic to religious belief and critical of it. In August 2006, Wilson's biography of Sir
John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture ...
was published. It was then discovered that he had been the victim of a hoax perpetrated by Betjeman's disgruntled biographer
Bevis Hillier Bevis Hillier (born 28 March 1940) is an English art historian, author and journalist. He has written on Art Deco, and also a biography of Sir John Betjeman. Life and work Hillier was born in Redhill, Surrey, where the family lived at 27, Whi ...
. Wilson had included in the book a letter (to Anglo-Irish writer Honor Tracy), purportedly by Betjeman, detailing a previously unknown love affair. Wilson acknowledged the letter to be a fiction when it was pointed out that it contained an
acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the F ...
spelling out an insulting message to him: "AN Wilson is a shit". In 2001, Wilson published ''Dante in Love'', a study of the Italian poet
Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...
as an artist and philosopher, also portraying medieval
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
in depth to help readers understand the literary and cultural background of ''
The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...
''. In addition to his many biographies, Wilson has written three books covering entire eras, ''The Victorians'' (2002), ''After the Victorians'' (2005) and ''The Elizabethans'' (2011).


Critiques of Wilson's work

Lynn Barber of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'' wrote that "Wilson's forte is the character and he brilliantly conveys Betjeman's odd mixture of introspection and sociability, gaiety and melancholia, exhibition and self-disgust". In ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' (London), James Marriott called his book ''Resolution'' "a work of genius".
Kathryn Hughes Kathryn Hughes (born 1959) is a British academic, journalist and biographer. Educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University and the University of East Anglia (UEA); her doctorate in Victorian history
wrote in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' of Wilson's biography of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
, ''Victoria: A Life'', "Subtle, thoughtful ... a shimmering and rather wonderful biography."
Daisy Goodwin Daisy Georgia Goodwin (born 19 December 1961) is an English screenwriter, TV producer and novelist. She is the creator of the award winning ITV/ PBS show ''Victoria'' which has sold to 146 countries. She has written three novels: ''My Last Duc ...
in ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British 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 News UK, whi ...
'' review wrote, "This won't be the last biography of Victoria but it is certainly the most interesting and original in a long time." Wilson's '' Hitler: A Short Biography'' was criticised by the historian Richard J. Evans in a review in the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' for factual inaccuracies and lack of original research and analysis, as well as personal biases. In his review of ''The Laird of Abbotsford'' for ''
Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'', David McKie observed that "Concluding with Chesterton that the superficial impression of the world is by far the deepest, Wilson underpins his notions of
Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...
with the same paradoxical hope." Wilson's biography ''Charles Darwin, Victorian Mythmaker'' (2017), was criticised by
John van Wyhe John van Wyhe (born 1971) is a British historian of science, with a focus on Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, at the National University of Singapore. He holds various academic and research positions, ranging from founder and director of ...
in ''New Scientist'' for confusing Darwin's theory of
natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
with
Lamarckism Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...
at one point, as well as other scientific, historical and editorial errors. Kathryn Hughes in ''The Guardian'' called it a "cheap attempt to ruffle feathers", with a dubious grasp of science and attempted
character assassination "Character Assassination" is a four-issue Spider-Man story arc written by Marc Guggenheim with art by John Romita, Jr. and published by Marvel Comics. The arc appears in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #584-#588. An interlude, "The Spartacus Gambit" w ...
. In the ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'', Adrian Woolfson wrote that "while for the greater part a lucid, elegantly written and thought-provoking social and intellectual history", Wilson's "speculations on evolutionary theory" produce a book that is "fatally flawed, mischievous, and ultimately misleading".
Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist * Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...
, an emeritus professor of genetics of
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
, commented in ''The Sunday Times'': "In the classic mould of the contrarian, he despises anything said by mainstream biology in favour of marginal and sometimes preposterous theories." The geneticist and former editor of ''Nature'', Adam Rutherford, called the book "deranged" and said Wilson "would fail
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
biology catastrophically."


Bibliography


Books


Non-fiction

* ''The Laird of Abbotsford: A View of Sir Walter Scott'' (1980) * ''The Life of John Milton: A Biography'' (1983) * ''Hilaire Belloc: A Biography'' (1985) * ''How Can We Know?'' (1985) * ''Penfriends from Porlock'' (1988) * ''Tolstoy: A Biography'' (1988) * ''C. S. Lewis: A Biography'' (1990) * ''Against Religion: Why We Should Live Without It'' (1991) * ''Jesus: A Life'' (1992) * ''The Faber Book of Church and Clergy'' (editor) (1992) * ''The Rise and Fall of the House of Windsor'' (1993) * ''Paul: The Mind of the Apostle'' (1997) * ''God's Funeral: The Decline of Faith in Western Civilization'' (1999) * ''The Victorians'' (2002) * ''Iris Murdoch As I Knew Her'' (2003) * ''London: A Short History'' (2004) * ''After the Victorians'' (2005) * ''Betjeman'' (2006) * ''Literary Genius: 25 Classic Writers Who Define English & American Literature'' (2007, illustrated by
Barry Moser Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American artist and educator, known as a printmaker specializing in wood engravings, and an illustrator of numerous works of literature. He is also the owner and operator of the Pennyroyal Press, an engraving and smal ...
) * ''Our Times'' (2008) * ''Dante in Love'' (2011) * ''The Elizabethans'' (2011) * '' Hitler: A Short Biography'' (2011) * ''Victoria: A Life'' (2014) * ''The Book of the People: How to Read the Bible'' (2015) * ''The Queen: The Life and Family of Queen Elizabeth II'' (2016) * ''Charles Darwin, Victorian Mythmaker'' (2017) * ''Prince Albert: The Man Who Saved the Monarchy'' (2019) * ''The Mystery of Charles Dickens'' (2020) * ''The King and the Christmas Tree'' (2021) * ''Confessions'' (2022 Autobiography)


Fiction

* ''The Sweets of Pimlico'' (1977) * ''Unguarded Hours'' (1978) * ''Kindly Light'' (1979) * ''The Healing Art'' (1980) * ''Who Was Oswald Fish?'' (1981) * ''Wise Virgin'' (1982) * ''
Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
'' (1983) * ''Gentlemen in England'' (1983) * ''Love Unknown'' (1986) * '' Stray'' (1987) * ''The Vicar of Sorrows'' (1993) * ''The Tabitha Stories'' (1997) * '' Dream Children'' (1998) * '' My Name Is Legion'' (2004) * ''A Jealous Ghost'' (2005) * ''Winnie and Wolf'' (2007, long-listed for the 2007
Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
) – fictional account of the relationship between
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
and
Winifred Wagner Winifred Marjorie Wagner ( Williams; 23 June 1897 – 5 March 1980) was the English-born wife of Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard Wagner, and ran the Bayreuth Festival after her husband's death in 1930 until the end of World War II in 1 ...
* ''The Potter's Hand'' (2012) * '' Resolution'' (2016) * ''Aftershocks'' (2018) ''The Lampitt Chronicles'' * ''Incline Our Hearts'' (1988) * ''A Bottle in the Smoke'' (1990) * ''Daughters of Albion'' (1991) * ''Hearing Voices'' (1995) * ''A Watch in the Night'' (1996)


Critical studies and reviews of Wilson's work

;''The Laird of Abbotsford'' * McKie, David (1980), ''A View from Above'', ''
Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'' No. 4, Winter 1980-81, p. 39


Broadcasting


Notes and references


External links

* James Atla
"'The Busy, Busy Wasp'"
''The New York Times'', 18 October 1992
'Sweetly Poisonous in a Welcome Way'
On ANW's biography of C.S. Lewis * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, A. N. 1950 births Living people People from Stone, Staffordshire 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford Charles Darwin biographers Converts to Anglicanism from atheism or agnosticism English male novelists English historians English biographers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Non-Darwinian evolution People educated at Rugby School 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers Male biographers