Simon Winder

{{short description|British writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Multiple issues| {{BLP sources|date=December 2015}} {{notability|Bio|date=June 2019}} }}

'''Simon Winder''' is a British writer. He is the author of several books, including a trilogy of books on the history of Central Europe: ''Germania'', ''Danubia'' and ''Lotharingia''. The second book in the trilogy, ''Danubia'', which deals with the Habsburg monarchy, was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. His books about Central Europe mix historical writing with autobiographical reflections on his travels in various countries in the region. The title of his book ''Germania'' evokes both the Roman term for the area inhabited by the Germanic peoples, and the personification of the German nation, also known as Germania. His book ''Lotharingia'' explores the culture and legacy of the historical kingdom of Lotharingia, which encompassed the present-day territory of various European countries, including France, Netherlands and Germany. His books have been praised for their humour and learning.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fabled Lands (Published 2014) |work=The New York Times |date=17 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206165232/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/books/review/simon-winders-danubia.html?_r=0 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/books/review/simon-winders-danubia.html?_r=0 |last1=Wheatcroft |first1=Andrew }}</ref>

Winder is a publishing director at Penguin Books. He has written for ''The Guardian''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/simon-winder|title=Simon Winder |website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref> He lives in Wandsworth Town in London.

In December 2025 Winder revealed that he had received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Winder |first1=Simon |title=A life altered by Alzheimer’s |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/diary/2025/12/a-life-altered-by-alzheimers |access-date=6 December 2025 |publisher=New Statesman |date=3 December 2025}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==

* ''The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal Journey into the Disturbing World of James Bond'' (2006) * ''Germania: In Wayward Pursuit of the Germans and Their History'' (2010) * ''Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe'' (2013) * ''Lotharingia: A Personal History of Europe's Lost Country'' (2019)

==See also== * Claudio Magris

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winder, Simon}} Category:British historians Category:British humorists Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people