{{Short description|British author, historian and journalist}} {{for|people with a similar name|Frank McGlynn (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}} {{Use British English|date=September 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Frank McLynn | honorific_suffix = FRHistS FRGS | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Francis James McLynn | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1941|08|29}} | birth_place = [[United Kingdom]] | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | other_names = | known_for = | notable_works = Napoleon Genghis Khan 1066: The Year of the Three Battles | occupation = Author | parents = | spouse = | children = | website = }} '''Francis James McLynn''' [[FRHistS]] [[FRGS]] (born 29 August 1941), known as '''Frank McLynn''', is a British author, biographer, novelist, historian and journalist.
He is known for biographies of [[Napoleon]], [[Robert Louis Stevenson]], [[Carl Jung]], [[Richard Francis Burton]] and [[Henry Morton Stanley]].
==Early life and education== McLynn was educated at the [[The John Fisher School|John Fisher School, Purley]], and won an [[Scholarship|Open Scholarship]] in [[Classics]] to [[Wadham College, Oxford]].<ref name="random">{{Cite web |url=http://www.rbooks.co.uk/author.aspx?id=6155 |title=Random House Books |access-date=20 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623075143/http://www.rbooks.co.uk/author.aspx?id=6155 |archive-date=23 June 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Once at Oxford, McLynn switched to [[Philosophy, politics and economics|Politics, Philosophy and Economics]] (PPE). McLynn explained his choice by stating that "history and literature were my first loves, and I would always read them in future life, but I doubted that I would ever pick up a book on economics or philosophy again". This multi-disciplinary course formed part of McLynn's ambition to become a [[polymath]].
== Career == McLynn entered the professional world as a [[journalist]]. He developed an interest in [[Latin America]], and spent two years in Colombia as deputy director of the [[British Council]], and a subsequent year in Argentina as a Parry/Ford Foundation Fellow. He was awarded a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in the early 1970s for a [[thesis]] on Argentina in the 1860s.
Prior to and during his career as a writer, McLynn worked in academic positions in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and [[United States|USA]].
=== Academic positions === {| class="wikitable" |+ !University/College !Position !Years |- |King's College London |Assistant lecturer |1972-74 |- |Humboldt State University |Lecturer |1977-78 |- |St Antony's, Oxford |Alistair Horne Research Fellow |1987-88 |- |Strathclyde University, Glasgow |Visiting Professor |1996-2001 |- |Goldsmith's College, London |Professorial Fellow |2000-02 |}
=== Awards and nominations === McLynn was shortlisted for the [[NCR Book Award]] for ''Carl Gustav Jung: A Biography''
==Bibliography== ===Books=== {| class="wikitable" |+ !Title !First Published !Publisher !Reissued !Reissued By |- |France and the Jacobite Rising of 1745 |1981 |[[Edinburgh University Press]] | | |- |The Jacobite Army in England, 1745–46 |1983 |John Donald Publishers Ltd | | |- |The Jacobites |1985 |[[Routledge & Kegan Paul]] | | |- |Invasion: From the Armada to Hitler |1987 |[[Routledge]] | | |- |Charles Edward Stuart: A Tragedy in Many Acts |1988 |Routledge |2020 |Sharpe Books |- |Crime and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England |1989 |Routledge | | |- |Stanley: The Making of an African Explorer, 1841–1877 |1989 |Constable & Co. | | |- |From the Sierras to the Pampas: Richard Burton's Travels in The Americas, 1860–69 |1991 |[[Trafalgar Square Books|Trafalgar Square]] | | |- |Stanley: Sorcerer's Apprentice |1991 |Constable & Co. | | |- |Snow upon the Desert: The Life of Sir Richard Burton |1993 |John Murray Publishers Ltd | | |- |Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa |1993 |[[Carroll & Graf Publishers|Caroll & Graf Publishers]] | | |- |Famous Letters: Messages & Thoughts That Shaped Our World |1993 |[[Reader's Digest Association]] | | |- |Fitzroy MacLean |1993 |John Murray Publishers Ltd | | |- |Robert Louis Stevenson: A Biography |1994 |[[Random House]] | | |- |Famous Trials: Cases That Made History |1995 |[[Reader's Digest Association|Reader's Digest]] | | |- |Napoleon: A Biography |1997 |[[Arcade Publishing]] | | |- |Carl Gustav Jung: A Biography |1997 |[[Thomas Dunne Books]] | | |- |1066: The Year of the Three Battles |1998 |[[Jonathan Cape|Johnathan Cape]] | |Pimlico |- |Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution |2000 |[[Basic Books]] | | |- |Wagons West: The Epic Story of America's Overland Trails |2002 |[[Grove Press]] | | |- |1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World |2005 |[[Atlantic Monthly Press]] | | |- |Lionheart and Lackland: King Richard, King John and the Wars of Conquest* |2006 |Jonathan Cape | | |- |Marcus Aurelius: Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor |2009 |[[Bodley Head]] | | |- |Heroes and Villains: Inside the Minds of the Greatest Warriors in History |2009 |Pegasus | | |- |The Burma Campaign: Disaster Into Triumph 1942–45 |2010 |Bodley Head |2011 |Yale University Press |- |Captain Cook: Master of the Seas |2011 |[[Yale University Press]] | | |- |The Road Not Taken: How Britain Narrowly Missed a Revolution, 1381–1926 |2012 |Random House | | |- |Genghis Khan: The Man Who Conquered the World |2015 |Bodley Head | | |- |Bipolar: The South Pole |2018 |Crux Publishing | | |- |Bipolar: The North Pole | | | | |} <nowiki>*</nowiki>Published in the US as ''Richard and John: Kings at War'' (2007), [[Da Capo Press]]
=== As editor === *''Of No Country: An Anthology of the Works of Sir Richard Burton'' (1990), [[London]]: [[Scribners]]
==Awards and accolades== * [[Cheltenham Prize for Literature]] (1985; for ''The Jacobite Army in England'')<ref name=jan>{{Cite web|url=http://januarymagazine.com/2009/09/biography-marcus-aurelius-life-by-frank.html|title=January Magazine|access-date=20 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103134837/http://januarymagazine.com/2009/09/biography-marcus-aurelius-life-by-frank.html|archive-date=3 January 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> *Shortlisted, McVitie's Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year (1989, for ''Charles Edward Stuart'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://libraries.midlothian.gov.uk/02_Catalogue/02_005_TitleInformation.aspx?rcn=0091776384&|title=Midlothian, Our Library|access-date=20 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820011327/http://libraries.midlothian.gov.uk/02_Catalogue/02_005_TitleInformation.aspx?rcn=0091776384&|archive-date=20 August 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Legacy and memory of Napoleon]]
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLynn, Frank}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:Academics of the University of Strathclyde]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of London]] [[Category:Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford]] [[Category:British biographers]] [[Category:British male journalists]] [[Category:British military historians]] [[Category:Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Historical Society]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:British male biographers]]