Miranda Carter (born 1965) is an English historian, writer and biographer, who also publishes fiction under the name M. J. Carter.

Education

Carter was educated at

St Paul's Girls School St Paul's Girls' School is a private day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in west London, England. The school is included in The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 best private schools and among top ...

and

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

Career

Carter's first book was a biography of the art historian and

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University ...

, entitled ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives''. It won 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 ...

Award and the

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a board of trustees. Four prizes are award ...

and was short-listed for the

CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction The CWA ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction also called the ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is a British literary award established in 1978 by the Crime Writers' Association, who have awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for fiction since 1955. It is sp ...

, the

Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspa ...

, the Whitbread Prize for Best Biography, and the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

. In the US it was chosen by the ''New York Times Book Review'' as one of seven best books selected by the Times' editors for 2002. Noted the editors, "It's an unusual achievement: Miranda Carter's biography of Anthony Blunt is more interesting than the man." Her second historical undertaking was ''The Three Emperors'', which was a group biography of

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

and

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

, all world leaders during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Carter also has written several novels, notably ''The Strangler Vine'' and its sequel ''The Infidel Stain'', which was later republished as ''The Printer's Coffin''. Her third mystery is entitled ''The Devil's Feast''. All three are

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

detective and mystery stories.

Personal life

Carter is married to

John Lanchester John Henry Lanchester (born 25 February 1962) is a British journalist and novelist. He was born in Hamburg, brought up in Hong Kong and educated in England; between 1972 and 1980 at Gresham's School in Holt, Norfolk, then at St John's College, ...

, with whom she has two children, and lives in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Accolades

*2010: Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Biography), ''The Three Emperors: Three Cousins, Three Empires and the Road to World War One'', shortlist *2002: Whitbread Biography Award, ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives'', shortlist *2002: The Royal Society of Literature Award, ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives'' *2002:

, ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives'' *2002: James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for biography), ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives'', shortlist *2002: Duff Cooper Prize, ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives'', shortlist *2002: Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger for Non-Fiction, ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives'', shortlist *2001: Guardian First Book Award, ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives'', shortlist

Bibliography

Non-fiction

*''Anthony Blunt: His Lives''. London: Macmillan. 2001. *''The Three Emperors: Three Cousins, Three Empires and the Road to World War One''. London: Penguin. 2009.

Avery & Blake Series

*''The Strangler Vine''. London: Fig Tree. 2014. *''The Infidel Stain'' r''The Printer's Coffin''. London: Fig Tree. 2015. *''The Devil's Feast''. London: Fig Tree. 2016.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Miranda 1965 births Living people Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford English biographers English non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at St Paul's Girls' School Writers from London British women biographers English women non-fiction writers 21st-century English women writers 21st-century British biographers James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients