J. Hawes

British novelist, popular historian, and screenwriter, born in 1960

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About

James Hawes, born in 1960 in Wiltshire, is a British writer. After studying German at Oxford and earning a PhD on Nietzsche, he taught at several universities before turning to writing. He is the author of six novels, including two Sunday Times bestsellers that were adapted into films. He has also published notable historical works, such as The Shortest History of Germany, translated into over twenty languages, and a controversial biography of Kafka. Since 2008, he has led the MA in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University.

Major works

A White Merc with Fins (1996)novel
Rancid Aluminium (1997)novel
Excavating Kafka (2008)biography
The Shortest History of Germany (2017)history
The Shortest History of England (2020)history

Key milestones

1996Publication of his debut novel, A White Merc with Fins.
2008Appointed Reader in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University.
2017The Shortest History of Germany reached #2 on the Sunday Times non-fiction bestseller list.

Themes

popular historyGerman culturesocial satirenational identityliterature and politics

Sources: id.loc.gov · theexperimentpublishing.com

“A good character is, in all cases, the fruit of personal exertion. It is not inherited from parents; it is not created by external advantages; it is no necessary appendage of birth, wealth, talents, or station; but it is the result of one's own endeavors, the fruit and reward of good principles manifested in a course of virtuous and honorable action.”

— J. HawesTheme · Personal Development

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“A good name is seldom regained. When character is gone, all is gone, and one of the richest jewels of life is lost forever.”

— J. HawesTheme · Wisdom

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