Simon Winchester
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Simon Winchester, OBE (born September 28, 1944), is a British author and journalist who lives in the United States.
Winchester studied geology at St Catherine's College, Oxford before working in Africa and on offshore oil rigs. He then spent a twenty-year career as a foreign correspondent for The Guardian, winning several awards. While at The Guardian, he was a witness to the events of Bloody Sunday[1]. He has more recently written for such publications as Condé Nast Traveler, Smithsonian Magazine, and National Geographic and book reviews for The New York Times. He lives on a small farm in Massachusetts, as well as in the Western Isles of Scotland. Before his success in book writing he was notable for being a journalist held captive by the Argentinian forces in the Falkland Islands. In the BBC television drama about the invasion, An Ungentlemanly Act, he was played by Paul Geoffrey. Winchester has traveled widely around the world.
Winchester's most recent book is The Man Who Loved China (2008) about the British biochemist and Chinese scholar Joseph Needham.
[edit] Bibliography
- 2008 - The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom — the life of Joseph Needham
- 2005 - A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 — the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
- 2004 - Simon Winchester's Calcutta (a collection of writings about the Indian city, edited with son Rupert)
- 2003 - Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded — the 27 August 1883 eruption of Krakatoa
- 2003 - The Meaning of Everything — the making of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
- 2001 - The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology — the work of geologist William Smith
- 1999 - The Fracture Zone: A Return To The Balkans
- 1998 - The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (Published in the US as The Professor and the Madman)
- 1996 - The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time — the Yangtze
- 1992 - Pacific Nightmare: How Japan Starts World War III : A Future History (novel)
- 1991 - Pacific Rising: The Emergence of a New World Culture
- 1988 - Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles — Korea
- 1985 - Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire (also known as The Sun Never Sets)
- 1984 - Their Noble Lordships: Class and Power in Modern Britain
- 1976 - American Heartbeat
- 1975 - In Holy Terror
[edit] Honours
Winchester was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "services to journalism and literature" in Queen Elizabeth II's New Year Honours list of 2006.
[edit] See also
- 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
- Krakatoa
- James Murray (lexicographer)
- Oxford English Dictionary
- William Chester Minor
[edit] References
- ^ Coogan, Tim Pat. The Troubles pg.136
[edit] External links
- Simon Winchester — From Harper Collins Publishers.
- Powells.com Interview with Simon Winchester.
- Simon Winchester — From the Contemporary Writers website, British Council Arts.
- Simon Winchester : Annotated Bibliography— Comprehensive bibliography of articles, essays, and all of Winchester's books.