Iain George Pears (born 8 August 1955) is an English

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and journalist.

Personal life

Pears was born on 8 August 1955 in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, England. He was educated at

Warwick School Warwick School is a selective, independent day and boarding school in Warwick, England in the public school tradition. Known until about 1900 as King's School, Warwick, it is believed to have been founded by Æthelflæd of Mercia in 914 AD ...

, an all-boys

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

. He studied at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA) degree, and at

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with around sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and ...

, graduating with a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

(DPhil) degree. In 1985, Pears married Ruth Harris, a historian and academic. Together they have two sons. He currently lives with his wife and children in Oxford.

Career

Before writing, he worked as a reporter for the BBC, Channel 4 (UK) and ZDF (Germany) and correspondent for

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

from 1982 to 1990 in Italy, France, UK and US. In 1987 he became a Getty Fellow in the Arts and Humanities at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Pears first came to international prominence with his best selling book ''

An Instance of the Fingerpost ''An Instance of the Fingerpost'' is a 1997 historical mystery novel by Iain Pears. Synopsis A murder in 17th-century Oxford is related from the contradictory points of view of four of the characters, all of them unreliable narrators. The set ...

'' (1997), which was translated into several languages. He is known for experimenting with different narrative structures, presenting four consecutive versions of the same events in ''An Instance of the Fingerpost'', three stories interleaved in ''The Dream of Scipio'' (2002), three stories told in reverse chronological order in ''Stone's Fall'' (2009), and allowing the reader to switch between multiple narratives in the electronic book version of ''Arcadia'' (2015). He has also written a novel series featuring Jonathan Argyll, art historian.

Bibliography

Jonathan Argyll series (art history mysteries)

This series presents detective art historian Jonathan Argyll who works with two members of the (fictitious) Italian Art Squad: Flavia di Stefano (deputy) and General Bottando (head of the squad). Pears published seven books in the series: * '' The Raphael Affair'' (1991) * ''

The Titian Committee ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1992) * '' The Bernini Bust'' (1993) * ''

The Last Judgement The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

'' (1994) * '' Giotto's Hand'' (1995) * ''

Death and Restoration Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

'' (1996) * ''

The Immaculate Deception ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (2000)

Novels

* ''

'' (1997) * '' The Dream of Scipio'' (2002) * '' The Portrait'' (2005) * ''

Stone's Fall ''Stone's Fall'' is a 2009 historical-mystery novel by Iain Pears. Synopsis An ageing BBC reporter approaching retirement in 1953, Matthew Braddock is on a farewell tour, visiting the old Paris bureau. Chancing upon a familiar name in the obitu ...

'' (2009) * ''Arcadia'' (2015)

Other books

* ''The Discovery of Painting'' (1989)

References

1955 births Living people English crime fiction writers British art historians People educated at Warwick School Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Alumni of Wolfson College, Oxford English male novelists {{UK-art-historian-stub