Michael Dobbs - Writing Career

Writing Career

Michael Dobbs is most recognised as a best-selling author. His writing career began in 1989 with the publication of House of Cards, the first in what would become a trilogy of political thrillers with Francis Urquhart as the central character. House of Cards was followed by To Play the King in 1992 and The Final Cut in 1994. Each novel was adapted by BBC into a miniseries. The trilogy received a combined 14 BAFTA nominations and two BAFTA wins and was voted the 84th Best British Show in History.

His 2004 novel Winston’s War was shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year Award and is in development to be adapted as a feature film. He has been a judge of the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and lectures at dozens of literary and fundraising events each year. His novels are also published in the United States.

Anthony Howard of The Times said “Dobbs is following in a respectable tradition. Shakespeare, Walter Scott, even Tolstoy, all used historical events as the framework for their writings. And, unlike some of their distinguished works, Dobbs's novel is, in fact, astonishingly historically accurate."

Dobbs is now a full-time writer, and divides his time between London and Wiltshire. He is married and has four children.