Ben Macintyre facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ben Macintyre
Macintyre at the 2024 Chiswick Book Festival
Born	Benedict Richard Pierce MacIntyre 25 December 1963 (1963-12-25) (age 61) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Occupation	Columnist, author
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge
Spouse	Kate Muir (div.)
Children	3

Benedict Richard Pierce Macintyre, born on December 25, 1963, is a British writer and journalist. He writes for The Times newspaper, sharing his thoughts on current events and interesting historical mysteries. Ben Macintyre has written about 15 books and has won many awards for his stories, both true and fictional.

Early Life and Education

Ben Macintyre was born in Oxford, England. His father, Angus Donald Macintyre, was a history professor at Magdalen College, Oxford. His mother, Joanna, came from a family with a long history.

Ben went to Abingdon School and then studied history at St John's College, Cambridge. He finished his degree in 1985.

Ben Macintyre's Books and Career

Ben Macintyre is known for writing exciting non-fiction books, especially about spies and historical events.

Stories of Spies and Adventurers

• He wrote The Napoleon of Crime, a book about a clever gentleman thief named Adam Worth.
• The Man Who Would Be King tells the true story of Josiah Harlan, an American adventurer in Afghanistan. Some people think he might have inspired Rudyard Kipling's famous story.
• Agent Zigzag is about Eddie Chapman, a real-life double agent during World War II. He worked for both Germany and Britain!
• In 2008, Ben wrote a book about Ian Fleming, the person who created the famous spy James Bond. This book was for an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London.
• His 2010 book, Operation Mincemeat, shared the amazing true story of a secret plan during World War II that tricked the enemy.
• In 2020, he released Agent Sonya, which is the true story of Ursula Kuczynski, a brave Soviet spy. This book was even featured on BBC Radio 4.
• His 2022 book, Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, tells the history of a famous German prison during the war and the British prisoners of war held there.
• In 2024, Ben Macintyre's book The Siege was published. It's about the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980. This book is even being made into a TV show!

Awards and Recognition

Ben Macintyre has received many awards for his writing. He was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2014. Some of his notable awards include:

• 1998 Edgar Award shortlist for The Napoleon of Crime
• 2007 Costa Book Awards shortlist for Agent Zigzag
• 2010 British Book Awards shortlist for Operation Mincemeat
• 2014 Spear's Book Award winner for A Spy Among Friends
• 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist for The Spy and the Traitor

Ben Macintyre's Books Made into Documentaries and Films

Many of Ben Macintyre's exciting books have been turned into documentaries and movies.

BBC Documentaries

Five of his books have become documentaries for the BBC:

• Operation Mincemeat (2010)
• Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story (2011)
• Double Cross – The True Story of the D Day Spies (2012)
• Kim Philby: His Most Intimate Betrayal (2014)
• SAS: Rogue Warriors (2017)

Movie and TV Show Adaptations

• In 2022, a movie called Operation Mincemeat was released. It was based on his 2010 book about the true spy story that changed World War II.
• His book Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS... was made into a TV series called SAS: Rogue Heroes. It premiered on October 30, 2022.
• A six-part TV series called A Spy Among Friends started streaming on December 8, 2022. It's based on his book about Kim Philby and a big betrayal.
• In April 2023, it was announced that more TV shows based on Ben Macintyre's books are being developed by the same team behind A Spy Among Friends.
• The famous actor Tom Hanks bought the rights to Ben's book Agent Zigzag back in 2007, and a film based on it has been in the works since then.

Personal Life

Ben Macintyre has three children. He was previously married to writer and documentary maker Kate Muir.

List of Works

• Forgotten Fatherland: The Search for Elisabeth Nietzsche (1992)
• The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief (1997)
• A Foreign Field: A True Story of Love and Betrayal in the Great War (2001)
• The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan (Josiah Harlan) (2004)
• Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
• For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond (2008)
• The Last Word: Tales from the Tip of the Mother Tongue (2009)
• Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II (2010)
• Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies (2012)
• A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal (2014)
• Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War (2017)
• The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War (Oleg Gordievsky) (2018)
• Agent Sonya: Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy (2020)
• Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle (2022)
• The Siege: The Remarkable Story of the Greatest SAS Hostage Drama (2024)
• The Faintest of Tickles - a new anthology of cricket writing with a Foreword by Daniel Norcross (2025)

See also

In Spanish: Ben Macintyre para niños