Ben Macintyre


Benedict Richard Pierce Macintyre 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. 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

He lives with his wife and three children in north London.

Documentaries

Five of his books have been made into documentaries for the BBC: