Adam Nicolson, (born 12 September 1957) is an English author who has written about history, landscape, great literature and the sea. He is also the 5th Baron Carnock, but does not use the title.

Biography

Adam Nicolson is the son of writer

Nigel Nicolson Nigel Nicolson (19 January 1917 – 23 September 2004) was an English writer, publisher and politician. Early life and education Nicolson was the second son of writers Sir Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West; he had an elder brother Bene ...

and his wife Philippa Tennyson-d'Eyncourt. He is the grandson of the writers

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful nov ...

and Sir

Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, writer, broadcaster and gardener. His wife was Vita Sackville-West. Early life and education Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the youngest son of dipl ...

, and great-grandson of Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt and

Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock, (19 September 1849 – 5 November 1928), known as Sir Arthur Nicolson, 11th Baronet, from 1899 to 1916, was a British diplomat and politician during the last quarter of the 19th century to the middle of World ...

. He was educated at Eaton House,

Summer Fields School Summer Fields is a fee-paying boys' independent day and boarding preparatory school in Summertown, Oxford. It was originally called Summerfield and used to have a subsidiary school, Summerfields, St Leonards-on-Sea (known as "Summers mi"). ...

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

where he was a

King's Scholar A King's Scholar, abbreviated KS in the United Kingdom, is the recipient of a scholarship from a foundation created by, or under the auspices of, a British monarch. The scholarships are awarded at certain Public school (United Kingdom), public ...

, and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. He has worked as a journalist and columnist on the ''Sunday Times'', the ''Sunday Telegraph'', the ''Daily Telegraph'', ''National Geographic Magazine'' and ''Granta'', where he is a contributing editor. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

, the Society of Antiquaries and the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usu ...

. He is noted for his books ''Sea Room'' (about the Shiant Isles, a group of uninhabited islands in the

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

); ''God's Secretaries: The Making of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

''; ''The Mighty Dead'' (US title:''Why Homer Matters'') exploring the epic Greek poems; ''The Seabird's Cry'' about the disaster afflicting the world's seabirds; ''The Making of Poetry'' on the Romantic Revolution in England in the 1790s; and ''Life Between the Tides'', a boundary-crossing account of the tides in human and animal life. He has made several television series (with Keo Films) and radio series (with Tim Dee, the writer and radio producer) on a variety of subjects including the King James Bible, 17th-century literacy, Crete, Homer, the idea of Arcadia, the untold story of Britain's 20th-century whalers and the future of Atlantic seabirds. Between 2005 and 2009, in partnership with the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, Nicolson led a project which transformed the surrounding the house and garden at

Sissinghurst Sissinghurst is a small village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. Originally called ''Milkhouse Street'' (also referred to as ''Mylkehouse''), Sissinghurst changed its name in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the s ...

into a productive mixed farm, growing meat, fruit, cereals and vegetables for the National Trust restaurant. And between 2012 and 2017, together with the

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

, the EU and SNH, Nicolson and his son Tom were partners in a project to eradicate invasive predators from the Shiant Isles, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. In March 2018, the islands were declared rat-free. In December 2008 he succeeded his cousin

David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock David Henry Arthur Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock (10 July 1920 – 26 December 2008) was a British peer and solicitor. The son of the Erskine Nicolson, 3rd Baron Carnock, 3rd Baron Carnock and Hon. Katharine Lopes, daughter of Henry Lopes, 1st Baro ...

, as 5th

Baron Carnock Baron Carnock, of Carnock in the County of Stirling, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the former Permanent Under-Secretary in the Foreign Office, Sir Arthur Nicolson, 11th Baronet. The Nicolson family ...

Personal life

Nicolson met his first wife, the writer Olivia Fane, when he was a student at Cambridge University. They married in 1982, had three sons, and later divorced. He is married to the writer and gardener Sarah Raven, with whom he has two daughters: Rosie and Molly. The family lives at Perch Hill FarmPerch Hill Farm
/ref> in Sussex.

Awards and recognition

* 1986

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

''Frontiers'' * 1987 PBFA Topography Prize (winner) ''Wetland'' (with Patrick Sutherland) * 1997

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named Ha ...

Feature Writer of the Year (shortlist) * 1998

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

Illustrated Book of the Year (shortlist) ''Restoration'' * 2002

Duff Cooper Prize The Duff Cooper Prize (currently known as the Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize) is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of history, biography, political science or occasionally poetry, published in English or French. The prize was estab ...

(shortlist) ''Sea Room'' * 2004

Heinemann Award The W. H. Heinemann Award is an award established by William Heinemann who bequeathed funds to the Royal Society of Literature to establish a literary prize, given from 1945 to 2003.Directory of Grants in the Humanities The Heinemann Award is give ...

(winner) ''Power and Glory'' * 2005 Fellow of the

* 2006

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi) is a defence and security think tank with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1831 by the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley ...

Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature The Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature was awarded by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, (the RUSI), Whitehall, London. Awarded annually from 1997 to 2016, the Medal was given to honour a living a ...

(shortlist) ''Men of Honour'' * 2009

Ondaatje Prize The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someo ...

(winner) ''Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History'' * 2009

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...

(longlist) ''Sissinghurst: an Unfinished History'' * 2010 Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries * 2014

(longlist) ''The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters'' * 2014

Scottish BAFTA BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televis ...

(winner, Factual Series) ''Britain's Whale Hunters'' * 2015 London Hellenic Prize (shortlist) ''The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters'' * 2017 Richard Jefferies Society Award for Nature Writing (winner) ''The Seabird's Cry'' * 2018 Gomes Lecturer, Emmanuel College, Cambridge * 2018

Wainwright Prize The Wainwright Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of general outdoors, nature and UK-based travel writing. In 2020 it was split into the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing and the Wainwright Prize for Writing on Glo ...

(winner) ''The Seabird's Cry'' * 2019

Costa Biography Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

(shortlist) ''The Making of Poetry'' * 2021 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award (longlist) ''The Fearful Summer'' * 2022 Richard Jefferies Society Award for Nature Writing (shortlist) ''the sea is not made of water: Life between the Tides'' * 2022

(longlist) ''the sea is not made of water: Life between the Tides'' * 2024

Runciman Award The Runciman Award is an annual literary award offered by the Anglo-Hellenic League for a work published in English dealing wholly or in part with Greece or Hellenism. On some years the prize has been awarded jointly and shared between two or mo ...

(shortlist) ''How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks'' * 2024 Pleasure of Reading Prize

Books

* ''The National Trust Book of Long Walks'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1981) * ''Long Walks in France'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1983) * ''Frontiers'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1985) * ''Wetland'' (Michael Joseph, 1987) * ''Two Roads to Dodge City'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988) with Nigel Nicolson * ''Prospects of England: Two Thousand Years Seen Through Twelve English Towns'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989) with Peter Morter * ''On Foot: Guided Walks in England, France, and the United States'' (Weidenfeld/Harmony, 1990) * ''Restoration: Rebuilding of Windsor Castle'' (Michael Joseph, 1997) * ''Regeneration: The Story of the Dome'' (HarperCollins, 1999) * ''Perch Hill: A New Life'' (Constable, 2000) * ''Mrs Kipling: The Hated Wife'' (Short Books, 2001) * ''Sea Room'' (HarperCollins, 2001; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2002) * ''Power and Glory: The Making of the King James Bible'' (US title: ''God's Secretaries'') (HarperCollins, 2003)(2011 reissued in UK as ''When God Spoke English'') * ''Seamanship'' (HarperCollins, 2004) * ''Men of Honour: Trafalgar and the Making of the English Hero'' (US title: ''Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar)'' (HarperCollins, 2005) * ''Earls of Paradise'' (US title: ''Quarrel with the King'') (HarperCollins, 2008) * ''Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History'' (HarperCollins, 2008; US revised edition Viking, 2010) * ''Arcadia: The Dream of Perfection in Renaissance England'' (a revised paperback edition of ''Earls of Paradise'') (HarperCollins, 2009) * ''The Smell of Summer Grass'' (an updated edition of ''Perch Hill'') (HarperCollins, 2011) * ''The Gentry: Stories of the English'' (HarperCollins, 2011) * ''The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters'' (US title Henry Holt: ''Why Homer Matters'') (HarperCollins, 2014) * ''The Seabird's Cry: The Life and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers'' (HarperCollins, 2017) (US Henry Holt: ''The Lives and Loves of the Planet's Great Ocean Voyagers'' (2018)) * ''The Making of Poetry: Coleridge, the Wordsworths and their Year of Marvels'' (HarperCollins, 2019; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020) * ''The Sea is Not Made of Water: Life Between the Tides'' (HarperCollins, 2021; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ''Life Between the Tides'' 2022) * ''How to Be: Life Lessons From the Early Greeks'' (HarperCollins, 2023; Farrar, Straus and Giroux) * ''Bird School: a Beginner in the Wood'' (HarperCollins, 2025; Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Television

* ''Atlantic Britain'' Channel 4, 2004 * ''Sissinghurst'' BBC 4, 2009 * ''When God Spoke English: The Making of the King James Bible'' BBC 4, 2011 * ''The Century That Wrote Itself'' BBC 4, 2013 * ''Britain's Whale Hunters'' BBC 4, 2014 * ''The Last Seabird Summer?'' BBC 4, 2016

Radio

* ''Homer's Landscapes'' 3 x 45 mins, BBC Radio 3, 2008 * ''A Cretan Spring'' 5 x 15 mins, with Sarah Raven, BBC Radio 3, 2009 * ''Dark Arcadias'' 2 x 45 mins, BBC Radio 3, 2011

References

External links

Author page at Harper Collins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolson, Adam 1957 births Living people Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge 5 British columnists British male non-fiction writers British male writers British television presenters English people of Irish descent English people of Scottish descent English people of Spanish descent Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

People educated at Eton College People educated at Summer Fields School People from New Forest District People from Robertsbridge Television personalities from Hampshire Writers from Hampshire