Introduction
Benedict Richard Pierce Macintyre (born 25 December 1963) is a British author, historian, reviewer and columnist for The Times newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies.
Early life
Ben Macintyre's father was Angus MacIntyre, the son of Major Francis MacIntyre, of the 14th/20th King's Hussars. His paternal grandmother was related to the ancestral line of Viscount Netterville. He has an elder sister, born 1962, and a younger brother, born 1971. On his mother's side he is related to the Harvey baronets and Berkeley Paget.
He was educated at Abingdon School and St John's College, Cambridge, graduating with a degree in history in 1985.
Writing
Macintyre is the author of a book on the gentleman criminal Adam Worth, The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief.
He also wrote The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan (about Josiah Harlan). This was also published as Josiah the Great: The True Story of the Man who Would be King. Harlan is one of the candidates presumed to be the basis for Rudyard Kipling's short story The Man Who Would Be King.
His book on Eddie Chapman, a double agent of Germany and Britain during the Second World War, was titled Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Betrayer, Hero, Spy.
In 2008, Macintyre wrote an illustrated account of Ian Fleming, creator of the fictional spy James Bond, to accompany the For Your Eyes Only, Ian Fleming and James Bond exhibition at London's Imperial War Museum, which was part of the Fleming Centenary celebrations.
Personal life
Macintyre was married to Kate Muir. He has three children and lives in north London.
Documentaries
Four of his books have been made into documentaries for the BBC:
- Operation Mincemeat (2010),
- Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story (2011),
- Double Cross – The True Story of the D Day Spies (2012)
- Kim Philby – His Most Intimate Betrayal.
Awards and honours
- 1998 Edgar Award shortlist for The Napoleon of Crime
- 1998 Macavity Award shortlist for The Napoleon of Crime
- 2007 Costa Book Awards, biography, shortlist for Agent Zigzag
- 2008 Galaxy British Book Awards, biography, shortlist for Agent Zigzag
- 2010 Galaxy British Book Awards, Popular Non-fiction, shortlist for Operation Mincemeat
- 2011 Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature, shortlist for Operation Mincemeat
- 2012 Agatha Award, Non-fiction, shortlist for A Spy Among Friends
- 2013 Edgar Award shortlist for Double Cross
- 2014 Spear's Book Award, winner for A Spy Among Friends
- 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize, shortlist for The Spy and the Traitor