James Heneage (born 31 October 1957) is a British

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

writer, and the co-founder of the Ottakar’s bookshop chain and the Chalke Valley History Festival.

Career

Educated at Worth School, Heneage fronted a rock band as lead singer before being commissioned into the Grenadier Guards where he served a short-service commission from 1978 to 1982. Between 1982 and 1987 he worked in advertising, finishing as an Account Director for Ogilvy and Mather. In 1987, he founded the bookshop chain Ottakar’s which was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1998 and grew to a chain of 142 branches, employing some 2,500 people. Despite Heneage and others attempting a management buyout, the chain was sold to the

HMV Group Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

, then owner of Waterstones, in 2006. Ottakar’s was well known in the book trade for the high morale and commitment of its staff, considered "more like a religious cult than a business". Also in 2006 he was awarded The Random House Group Award for Outstanding Contribution to Bookselling. "His achievement will leave an ideological and emotional imprint on this industry," said one judge. In 2007, he became chairman of the Cheltenham Literary Festival, leaving three years later to co-found the Chalke Valley History Festival, the largest festival devoted entirely to history in the UK, where he continued to be involved until 2018. He was a

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 award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

judge in 2008, and chaired the Costa Book Awards in 2014. In 2007, Heneage helped set up and direct the

Prince's Rainforests Project The Prince's Rainforests Project (PRP) was set up in the UK in 2007 by Charles, Prince of Wales following reports from leading climate change experts, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to promote awareness of the urgent need ...

, an initiative of the Prince of Wales to find solutions for the destruction of the world’s

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s ahead of the

Copenhagen Climate Summit The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit, was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 and 18 December. The conference included the 15th session of the Conference of the Partie ...

of 2009. In 2010, Heneage became a full-time writer and has had six novels published by Quercus and its imprint Heron.

Personal life

James Heneage is married to Charlotte and they have four children. They live half of the year in

Bowerchalke Bowerchalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of the county, about from the boundary with Dorset and from that with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Mead End, Mi ...

, Wiltshire, in the United Kingdom, and half in a house they built near Kardimili in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

. He is a lifetime devotee of Tintin and named his bookshop chain, Ottakar's, after his favourite of the books.

Books

Heneage signed a three-book deal with Quercus in 2012 for the Mistra Chronicles, an historical fiction series set during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars.Henshaw, Nancy
"Review:''The Towers of Samarcand''"
Historical Novel Society, August 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2020. This was extended to four books when Quercus was taken over by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint (trade name), imprint of Hachette (publisher), Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs ...

, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group. *''The Walls of Byzantium'' (Heron, 2013) *''The Towers of Samarcand'' (Heron, 2014) *''The Lion of Mistra'' (Heron, 2015) *''By Blood Divided'' (Quercus, 2017) *''A World on Fire'', a fifth novel, was published by Quercus in 2018. It is separate from the Mistra Chronicles and concerns events in Greece during 1824. Moxey, Nicky
"Review:''A World On Fire''"
Historical Novel Society, November 2018. Retrieved 29 February 2020. *''The Shortest History of Greece'' (Old Street, 2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heneage, James British male writers British historical novelists 1957 births Living people Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age People educated at Worth School