{{short description|British scholar}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''David Nokes''' FRSL (11 March 1948 – 19 November 2009) was a scholar of 18th-century English literature known for his biographies of Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Jane Austen, and Samuel Johnson. He also penned screenplays, including a BBC adaptation of Samuel Richardson's novel ''Clarissa'' (1991) and an adaptation of Anne Brontë's novel ''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' (1996).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brant |first=Clare |date=2009-12-07 |title=David Nokes obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/dec/07/david-nokes-obituary |website=The Guardian |access-date=2016-12-11 |archive-date=2017-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213090755/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/dec/07/david-nokes-obituary |url-status=live }}</ref> He was also a leading reviewer for ''The Times Literary Supplement'' and the ''London Review of Books''.<ref name="The Sunday Times Obituary">{{Cite web |date=2009-12-03 |title=Professor David Nokes: writer and scholar of the 18th century |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6941435.ece |website=The Sunday Times |access-date=2010-07-07 |archive-date=2010-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523231744/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6941435.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Nokes attended King's College School, Wimbledon, London. He received an MA from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1974.<ref name="The Sunday Times Obituary" /> He started teaching at King's College London in 1973, was elevated to reader in 1986, and was promoted to Professor of English Literature in 1998.<ref name="The Sunday Times Obituary" />
In 1994, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Royal Society of Literature All Fellows |url=http://www.rslit.org/content/fellows |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305070326/http://www.rslit.org/content/fellows |archive-date=5 March 2010 |access-date=10 August 2010 |publisher=Royal Society of Literature}}</ref>
==Books==
*''Jonathan Swift: A Hypocrite Reversed'' (1985) *''Raillery and Rage: A Study of Eighteenth Century Satire'' (1987) *''John Gay: A Profession of Friendship'' (1995) *''Jane Austen: A Life'' (1997) *''The Nightingale Papers'' (2001) *''Samuel Johnson: A Life'' (2009)
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nokes, David}} Category:1948 births Category:2009 deaths Category:People educated at King's College School, London Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Category:Academics of King's College London Category:British literary historians Category:English biographers Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Category:James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Category:20th-century British biographers