Matthew Parker (author)

Last updated

Matthew Parker
Born1970 (age 5354)
El Salvador
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
Alma mater Balliol College, Oxford University
GenreHistorical non-fiction
Notable worksMonte Cassino
Panama Fever
The Sugar Barons
Children3
Website
Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker (born 1970) [1] is an English author of historical non-fiction books whose work has covered topics including European colonialism, World War II, and the construction of the Panama Canal.

Contents

Early life and education

Parker was born in El Salvador to British parents and spent parts of his childhood in Great Britain, Norway and Barbados. [1] He was educated at Yardley Court, Tonbridge School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a degree in English. [1]

Writing career

Parker's first two books were about World War II. The Battle of Britain, July–October 1940: An Oral History of Britain's Finest Hour was published in 2000, [2] and Monte Cassino: The Story of the Hardest-Fought Battle in World War II came out in 2003. Of the latter, Publishers Weekly said "Parker details, with the aid of hundreds of survivor interviews and war diaries, the Allied siege of the monastery at Monte Cassino, a mountainous fiefdom massively fortified...With command and ground-level detail that buffs will savor, Parker goes over what seems like every inch of the multinational force's campaign." [3]

His book Panama Fever: The Epic Story of One of the Greatest Human Achievements of All Time-- the Building of the Panama Canal (retitled Hell's Gorge: The Battle to Build the Panama Canal for the UK paperback edition) came out in 2007. Allan Massie reviewed it for The Telegraph: "His narrative is compelling, his ability to weave a pattern from the topics he has to cover quite remarkable...There isn’t a dull page, and if this book isn’t a candidate for all the non-fiction prizes going, I shall be disappointed." [4]

In 2011, he published The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire and War in the West Indies. It was named a Book of the Year by The Economist [5] and John Gimlette of The Spectator called it "compelling, wonderful history. The Sugar Barons is an exemplary book; history as it should be written." [6]

Parker next turned to biography, with an account of the life of James Bond author Ian Fleming during his years living in Jamaica, titled Goldeneye: Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica (2014). It was nominated for an Edgar Award in 2016. [7]

In 2015, his first look at a period of history before the modern era was published. Willoughbyland: England's Lost Colony is the story of Lord Willoughby's short-lived 17th-century colony in what is now Suriname. John Gimlette reviewed it for The Spectator: "A miniature masterpiece...this is a truly extraordinary tale and, in Parker’s hands, it’s beautifully told. With great wit and scholarship he reveals — just for a moment — a cruel and curious world, before it vanishes again beneath the trees." [8]

Personal life

Parker lives in London with his wife and three children. [9]

He is a bowler on the Authors XI amateur cricket team, which is composed of British writers, and he contributed a chapter to the team's book about their first season playing together, The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon (Bloomsbury, 2013). [10]

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Monte Cassino</span> Battle of World War II

The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The objective was to break through the Winter Line and facilitate an advance towards Rome.

<i>Dr. No</i> (novel) 1958 novel by Ian Fleming

Dr. No is the sixth novel by the English author Ian Fleming to feature his British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the novel in early 1957 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 31 March 1958. The novel centres on Bond's investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of two fellow MI6 operatives. He establishes that they had been investigating Doctor No, a Chinese-German operator of a guano mine on the fictional Caribbean island of Crab Key. Bond travels to the island and meets Honeychile Rider and later Doctor No.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Fleming</span> English author (1908–1964)

Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.

<i>From Russia, with Love</i> (novel) 1957 spy fiction novel by Ian Fleming

From Russia, with Love is the fifth novel by the English author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the story in early 1956 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica; at the time he thought it might be his final Bond book. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 8 April 1957.

<i>Goldfinger</i> (novel) Novel by Ian Fleming

Goldfinger is the seventh novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Written in January and February 1958, it was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 23 March 1959. The story centres on the investigation by the British Secret Service operative James Bond into the gold-smuggling activities of Auric Goldfinger, who is also suspected by MI6 of being connected to SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence organisation. As well as establishing the background to the smuggling operation, Bond uncovers a much larger plot: Goldfinger plans to steal the gold reserves of the United States from Fort Knox.

<i>Moonraker</i> (novel) 1955 novel by Ian Fleming

Moonraker is the third novel by the British author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. It was published by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1955 and featured a cover design conceived by Fleming. The plot is derived from a Fleming screenplay that was too short for a full novel, so he added the passage of the bridge game between Bond and the industrialist Hugo Drax. In the latter half of the novel, Bond is seconded to Drax's staff as the businessman builds the Moonraker, a prototype missile designed to defend England. Unknown to Bond, Drax is German, an ex-Nazi now working for the Soviets; his plan is to build the rocket, arm it with a nuclear warhead, and fire it at London. Uniquely for a Bond novel, Moonraker is set entirely in Britain, which raised comments from some readers, complaining about the lack of exotic locations.

<i>The Man with the Golden Gun</i> (novel) Novel by Ian Fleming

The Man with the Golden Gun is the twelfth and final novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series and thirteenth Bond book overall. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 1 April 1965, eight months after the author's death. The novel was not as detailed or polished as the others in the series, leading to poor but polite reviews. Despite that, the book was a best-seller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Bond (ornithologist)</span> American ornithologist and inspiration for the name of the fictional spy

James Bond was an American ornithologist and expert on the birds of the Caribbean, having written the definitive book on the subject: Birds of the West Indies, first published in 1936. He served as a curator of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. His name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional British spy of the same name; the real Bond enjoyed knowing his name was being used this way, and references to him permeate the resulting media franchise.

<i>The Spy Who Loved Me</i> (novel) James Bond novel by Ian Fleming

The Spy Who Loved Me is the ninth novel and tenth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published by Jonathan Cape on 16 April 1962. It is the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels, as well as the only Bond novel told in the first person. Its narrator is a young Canadian woman, Viv Michel. Bond himself does not appear until two-thirds of the way through the book, arriving at precisely the right moment to save Viv from being raped and murdered by two criminals. Fleming wrote a prologue to the novel giving the character Viv credit as a co-author.

<i>Zero Minus Ten</i> Novel by Raymond Benson

Zero Minus Ten, published in 1997, is the first novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's James Bond following John Gardner's departure in 1996. Published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in America by Putnam, the book is set in Hong Kong, China, Jamaica, England and some parts of Western Australia.

Operation Goldeneye was an Allied stay-behind plan during the Second World War to monitor Spain after a possible alliance between Francisco Franco and the Axis powers, and to undertake sabotage operations. The plan was formed by Commander Ian Fleming of the Naval Intelligence Division (NID). No German takeover of Spain took place, nor an invasion of Gibraltar, and the plan was shelved in 1943. Fleming later used the name for his Jamaican home where he wrote the James Bond stories.

<i>Casino Royale</i> (novel) 1953 novel by Ian Fleming, the first James Bond book

Casino Royale is the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming. Published in 1953, it is the first James Bond book, and it paved the way for a further eleven novels and two short story collections by Fleming, followed by numerous continuation Bond novels by other authors.

Birds of the West Indies (ISBN 0-618-00210-3) is a book containing exhaustive coverage of the 400+ species of birds found in the Caribbean Sea, excluding the ABC islands, and Trinidad and Tobago, which are considered bio-geographically as part of South America.

<i>Diamonds Are Forever</i> (novel) 1956 novel by Ian Fleming

Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth novel by the British author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the story at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, inspired by a Sunday Times article on diamond smuggling. The book was first published by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom on 26 March 1956.

<i>Live and Let Die</i> (novel) 1954 James Bond novel by Ian Fleming

Live and Let Die is the second novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series of stories. Set in London, the United States and Jamaica, it was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954. Fleming wrote the novel at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica before his first book, Casino Royale, was published; much of the background came from Fleming's travel in the US and knowledge of Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldeneye (estate)</span> Building in Oracabessa, Jamaica

Goldeneye is the original name of novelist Ian Fleming's estate on Oracabessa Bay on the northern coastline of Jamaica. He bought 15 acres (6.1 ha) adjacent to the Golden Clouds estate in 1946 and built his home on the edge of a cliff overlooking a private beach. The three-bedroom structure was constructed from Fleming's sketch, fitted with wooden jalousie windows and a swimming pool. Fleming's visitors at Goldeneye included actors, musicians, and filmmakers, among others.

Oracabessa is a small town in Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica 16 kilometres (10 mi) east of Ocho Rios. Its population is nearly 7,000. Lit in the afternoons by an apricot light that may have inspired its Spanish name, Oracabeza, or "Golden Head," Oracabessa's commercial district consists of a covered produce market and a few shops and bars. The main street is a narrow promenade with a number of well-maintained buildings in the early 20th-century Jamaican vernacular tradition.

Timothy Napier Moxon was an English-born actor, pilot and restaurateur who is probably best known for playing John Strangways, the character who uttered the first dialogue in the first James Bond film Dr. No, and was the first character to die in the film series.

Goldeneye, also sometimes called Goldeneye: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming, is a 1989 British television film loosely based on the life of the author Ian Fleming, portrayed by Charles Dance, focusing on Fleming's life during the Second World War, his love life and the writing of James Bond, and directed by Don Boyd. The film is based on The Life of Ian Fleming (1966), a biography by John Pearson, who was Fleming's assistant in the 1950s and has access to his private papers. The film's screenwriter, Reg Gadney, also has a small part as James Bond, the American ornithologist who lent his name to Fleming's eponymous spy.

Molly, Lady Huggins, néeGreen was a British activist and philanthropist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Exclusive interview with Matthew Parker, author of 'Goldeneye: Where Bond Was Born'". Artistic Licence Renewed. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  2. "The Battle of Britain : July-October, 1940 : an oral history of Britain's "finest hour" / Matthew Parker (library catalog entry)". British Library. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  3. "Monte Cassino: The Hardest-Fought Battle of World War II". Publishers Weekly. 12 April 2004. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  4. Massie, Allan (11 March 2007). "Skulduggery between the seas". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. "Page-turners". The Economist. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  6. Gimlette, John (14 May 2011). "The Mark of Cane". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  7. "2014 Edgar Allan Poe Awards Nominees Press Release" (PDF). Mystery Writers of America. January 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  8. Gimlette, John (August 2015). "The strange history of Willoughbyland, modern-day Suriname". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  9. "Matthew Parker". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  10. Authors Cricket Club (2013). The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN   978-1-4088-4045-0.