Adam Nicolson writes books on history and the landscape. He was born in 1957, the son of the author Nigel Nicolson and grandson of Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West. He was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He has worked widely as a journalist (British Press Awards Feature Writer of the Year 1997, shortlist) and for many years wrote weekly columns in the Daily and Sunday Telegraph. He lives at Sissinghurst in Kent with his wife Sarah Raven and is the father of five children. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland. Adam's book, SISSINGHURST: AN UNFINISHED HISTORY, won the 2009 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. THE SMELL OF SUMMER GRASS: PERSUING HAPPINESS, Perch Hill 1994 - 2011 was published by HaperCollins in March 2011. THE GENTRY: STORIES OF THE ENGLISH was published by HarperPress in October 2011 to very favourable reviews. THE MIGHTY DEAD: WHY HOMER MATTERS was published by William Collins in March 2014.
Adam Nicolson was awarded the 2018 Wainwright Prize for THE SEABIRD'S CRY (William Collins, 2017). His latest book, THE MAKING OF POETRY, was published by William Collins in May 2019. It was shortlisted for the Costa Biography award 2019.
Books:
Adam Nicolson was awarded the 2018 Wainwright Prize for THE SEABIRD'S CRY (William Collins, 2017). His latest book, THE MAKING OF POETRY, was published by William Collins in May 2019. It was shortlisted for the Costa Biography award 2019.
Books:
The National Trust Book of Long Walks (Weidenfeld 1981)
Long Walks in France (Weidenfeld 1983)
Frontiers (Weidenfeld 1985) Winner of a Somerset Maugham Award.
Wetland — Life in the Somerset Levels (Michael Joseph 1987) Winner of the British Topography Prize.
Two Roads to Dodge City (Weidenfeld 1988) with Nigel Nicolson
Prospects of England (Weidenfeld 1990)
Restoration (Michael Joseph 1997) 1998 British Book Awards Illustrated Book of the Year, shortlist.
Perch Hill (Constable/Penguin 1999)
Regeneration: The story of the Dome (HarperCollins 1999)
The Hated Wife (Short Books 2000)
Sea Room (HarperCollins/North Point Press 2001) Duff Cooper Prize, shortlist
Power and Glory/God’s Secretaries (HarperCollins 2003) Winner 2004 Royal Society of Literature Heinemann Prize.
Seamanship (HarperCollins 2004)
Men of Honour/Seize the Fire (HarperCollins 2005)
Earls of Paradise/Quarrel with the King (HarperCollins 2008)
Sissinghurst: an Unfinished History (HarperCollins 2008)
Long Walks in France (Weidenfeld 1983)
Frontiers (Weidenfeld 1985) Winner of a Somerset Maugham Award.
Wetland — Life in the Somerset Levels (Michael Joseph 1987) Winner of the British Topography Prize.
Two Roads to Dodge City (Weidenfeld 1988) with Nigel Nicolson
Prospects of England (Weidenfeld 1990)
Restoration (Michael Joseph 1997) 1998 British Book Awards Illustrated Book of the Year, shortlist.
Perch Hill (Constable/Penguin 1999)
Regeneration: The story of the Dome (HarperCollins 1999)
The Hated Wife (Short Books 2000)
Sea Room (HarperCollins/North Point Press 2001) Duff Cooper Prize, shortlist
Power and Glory/God’s Secretaries (HarperCollins 2003) Winner 2004 Royal Society of Literature Heinemann Prize.
Seamanship (HarperCollins 2004)
Men of Honour/Seize the Fire (HarperCollins 2005)
Earls of Paradise/Quarrel with the King (HarperCollins 2008)
Sissinghurst: an Unfinished History (HarperCollins 2008)
Arcadia: The Dream of Perfection in Renaissance England (HarperCollins 2009)
The Smell of Summer Grass (HarperCollins 2011)
The Gentry: Stories of the English (HarperPress 2011)
The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters (William Collins, 2014)
The Seabird's Cry: The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers (William Collins, 2017)
The Making of Poetry: Coleridge, the Wordsworths and Their Year of Marvels (William Collins, 2019)
Television Series:
Atlantic Britain Channel 4, 2004
Sissinghurst BBC 4/BBC 2, 2009
Sissinghurst BBC 4/BBC 2, 2009
When God Spoke English: The Making of the King James Bible BBC 4, 2011
The Century That Wrote Itself BBC 4, 2013
Britain's Whale Hunters BBC 4, 2014
The Last Seabird Summer? BBC 4, 2016
Britain's Whale Hunters BBC 4, 2014
The Last Seabird Summer? BBC 4, 2016
Radio Series:
Homer’s Landscapes 3 x 45 mins, BBC Radio 3, 2008
A Cretan Spring, with Sarah Raven BBC Radio 3, 2009
