Biography
Saul David was born in Monmouth in 1966 and educated at Ampleforth College and Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities (History MA and PhD).
An expert in the wars of the Victorian period, he began writing his first history book when he was twenty-five and has since completed eight more. They include: The Homicidal Earl: The Life of Lord Cardigan (1997), a critically-acclaimed biography of the man who led the Charge of the Light Brigade; The Indian Mutiny:1857 (2002), shortlisted for the Westminster Medal for Military Literature; Zulu: The Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879 (2004), a Waterstone’s Military History Book of the Year; and the bestselling Victoria’s Wars: The Rise of Empire (2006). In 2007 he signed a three book deal with Hodder & Stoughton to write a series of historical novels set in the late Victorian period. The first, Zulu Hart, was published on 5 March 2009 to rave reviews with The Times describing it as a ‘rattling good yarn’ with ‘a compelling, sexy hero who could give Cornwell’s Sharpe a run for his money’. His forthcoming history – All The King’s Men: The British Soldier from the Restoration to Waterloo – will be published by Penguin on 2 February 2012.
An experienced broadcaster, Saul appears often on British radio and television. His TV presenting credits include the Escape From… series for Five (2004), Sky One’s genealogy series So You Think You’re Royal? (2007) and three programmes for the BBC’s flagship history series Timewatch: ‘The Queen’s Lover’ (2001), ‘The Greatest Knight’ (2008) and the ‘Queen Elizabeth’s Lost Guns’ (February 2009). He was an on-screen expert on BBC2′s virtual battle series Time Commanders (2004) and is a regular contributor to history programmes on all channels. Two of his books – Mutiny at Salerno and Zulu – have been made into documentaries. More recently he presented Filton’s Fabulous Flying Machines for BBC West (June 2010) and How The Rest Got Home, a 70th anniversary programme about the British soldiers who escaped from France after Dunkirk, for Radio 4 (June 2010). He has just finished filming a 3 x 1 hour series for BBC4 on the history of military logistics called ‘Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How Wars are Really Won’. It will be broadcast this autumn.
Saul gives frequent talks about military history and has spoken at all the major literary festivals. He has also lectured at the Security Service (MI5), the National Army Musuem and the Imperial War Museum. He has led history tours to India and the Crimea, and has appeared as a guest speaker on The World ship.
In 2007-8, Saul was Visiting Professor of Military History at the University of Hull. He is now Professor of War Studies at the University of Buckingham, and Programme Director for Buckingham’s London-based MA in Military History.
He lives in Somerset with his wife and three daughters.
