Author of PLAYS & historical fiction

James MacManus is the author of seven books. His latest, and fifth novel, is Ike and Kay published by Duckworth in the UK and US in 2018.

After a lifelong career as a journalist, which included many years as a foreign correspondent in Africa and the Middle East, James launched a parallel career as an author in 2005.

His historical fiction novels, the last two set around WW2, have won praise from critics in the UK and the US, especially for the quality of the research and the narrative strength of the stories.

James MacManus has worked in the newspaper business for 50 years and is currently the managing director of The Times Literary Supplement. James was a WW2 baby, educated at Westminster School, and graduated from St Andrews University in 1966 when he began his career at the Daily Express in Manchester. James joined The Guardian in 1972, first as a reporter in London and then as a foreign correspondent in France, Africa, and the Middle East. In 1985, James joined the Diplomatic staff of the Daily Telegraph in London before a move to The Times in November 1992, first as Assistant Editor (Home) and then Managing Editor in September 1996. James was appointed Managing Director of The Times Supplements in April 1997. In 2009, James relinquished many of his duties to concentrate on speech writing and managing The Times Literary Supplement.

In 2006, James’ first screenplay about the life of George Hogg, The Children of the Silk Road, was made into a film starring Jonathan Rhys Meyer titled The Children of Huang Shi. James went on to write a book of the film, Ocean-Devil (2008), followed by his debut novel,  On the Broken Shore (Harper Collins, 2010), and historical fiction novels Black Venus (Duckworth, 2014), Sleep in Peace Tonight (Duckworth, 2015), and Midnight in Berlin (Duckworth, 2016). You can read more here about his new historical fiction novel Ike and Kay published in the UK and US in 2018 (Duckworth), a vivid reimagining of General Eisenhower and Kay Summersby’s infamous love affair during WW2. Jame’s sixth novel The Woman with Wings was published in 2020.