Christopher Hibbert


Arthur Raymond Hibbert, known as Christopher Hibbert, was an English author, popular historian and biographer. He has been called "a pearl of biographers" and "probably the most widely-read popular historian of our time and undoubtedly one of the most prolific".

Biography

Arthur Raymond Hibbert was born in Enderby, Leicestershire in 1924, the son of Canon H. V. Hibbert and his wife Maude. He was the second of three children, and christened Arthur Raymond. He was educated at Radley College, a public school for boys near Abingdon-on-Thames, in Oxfordshire, before he went up to Oriel College at the University of Oxford. He was awarded the degrees of BA and later MA.
He left Oriel College to join the Army, where a sergeant major referred to Hibbert as "Christopher Robin" based upon his youthful looks. The name "Christopher" subsequently stuck. During World War II, Hibbert served as an infantry officer in the London Irish Rifles regiment in Italy, reaching the rank of captain. He was wounded twice and awarded the Military Cross in 1945.
From 1945 to 1959, he was a partner in a firm of land agents and auctioneers, and began his writing career in 1957. Hibbert was awarded the Heinemann Award for Literature in 1962 for The Destruction of Lord Raglan. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Personal life

Hibbert lived at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, and was a member of the Army and Navy Club and the Garrick Club. He was married to Susan Piggford and the couple had three children: his literary executor Kate Hibbert, television writer Jimmy Hibbert and music journalist Tom Hibbert.
He died on 21 December 2008, in Henley, from bronchial pneumonia at the age of 84. He was cremated, after a humanist ceremony in Oxford, on 2 January 2009.

Works

The Road to Tyburn: The Story of Jack Sheppard and the Eighteenth Century Underworld King Mob: The Story of Lord George Gordon and the Riots of 1780 Wolfe at Quebec Corunna The Destruction of Lord Raglan Benito Mussolini. A Biography reprinted as Mussolini: The Rise and Fall of Il Duce The Battle of Arnhem The Roots of Evil: A Social History of Crime and Punishment Agincourt The Wheatley Diary: A Journal and Sketch-book kept during the Peninsular War and the Waterloo Campaign editorThe Court at Windsor. A Domestic History later revisedGaribaldi and His Enemies The Making of Charles Dickens Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Campaign Highwaymen "Pageant of History" seriesCharles I An American in Regency England: The Journal of a Tour in 1810-1811; by Louis Simond editorLondon: The Biography of a City The Grand Tour The Search for King Arthur reprinted as King Arthur The Dragon Wakes: China and the West, 1793-1911 Recollections of Rifleman Harris editor The Personal History of Samuel Johnson Tower of London "Wonders of Man" seriesEdward: The Uncrowned King Versailles "Wonders of Man" seriesGeorge IV. Prince of Wales, 1762-1811 Vol 1: George IV. Regent and King, 1811-1830 Vol 2: The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici reprinted by the Folio Society, 1998A Soldier of the Seventy-First: The Journal of a Soldier in the Peninsular War editorThe Illustrated London News: Social History of Victorian Britain Edward VII: A Portrait Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of Queen Caroline; by Joseph Nightingale editorDisraeli and his World The Great Mutiny: India, 1857, as Penguin Pocketbook: 1980,.The Court of St James's: The Monarch at Work from Victoria to Elizabeth II The French Revolution .Greville's England: Selections from the Diaries of Charles Greville 1818-1860 editorAfrica Explored: Europeans in the Dark Continent, 1769-1889 Chateaux of the Loire "Wonders of Man" seriesThe London Encyclopaedia with Ben Weinreb later revised, with Julia and John Keay Rome: The Biography of a City Cities and Civilisations reprinted by the Folio Society, 2003The English: A Social History A Guide to Royal London Venice: The Biography of a City The Encyclopaedia of Oxford London's Churches assisted by Tessa Street with photographs by Martin Black Redcoats and Rebels: The War for America, 1770-1781 The Virgin Queen: The Personal History of Elizabeth I Captain Gronow: His Reminiscences of Regency and Victorian Life, 1810-60 editorFlorence: The Biography of a City Cavaliers & Roundheads: The English at War, 1642–1649 The Story of England Nelson: A Personal History No Ordinary Place: Radley College and the Public School System 1847–1997 Wellington: A Personal History George III: A Personal History Queen Victoria: A Personal History The Marlboroughs: John and Sarah Churchill 1650-1744 Napoleon: His Wives and Women Great Battles: Agincourt Disraeli: A Personal History