I was born in Wimbledon, near London, grew up in Esher and went to school at Charterhouse, near Godalming. I read history at York University from 1979 to 1983 and then theology at Cambridge until 1986 before starting work at a new newspaper called The Independent that same year. From 1988 to 1994, I was The Independent’s Balkan correspondent, covering the break-up of Yugoslavia, the fall of communism in Bulgaria and Romania, the wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and the siege of Sarajevo. At the end of it all, I received an MBE for services for journalism. I returned to London as assistant foreign editor for another few years, during which time I wrote my first book for Yale University Press, ‘Croatia, a Nation Forged in War.’ I left full-time journalism in 2000 to concentrate on writing. ‘Ireland’s Holy Wars’, the ‘Last of the Celts’ and most recently, ‘The Raven King’, followed. I live in Hackney in east London.
Apart from writing my own books, I have also contributed to a number of others. I authored the history sections of the TimeOut and Insight guides to Croatia and I annually update the Croatia section of the Europa Publications yearly Survey of Eastern Europe. I have reviewed books for The Tablet and The Independent and also written for the Sunday Times, The Independent on Sunday and the magazine Daedalus. I edit news and write features for the Balkan Investigative News Network and recently edited Maritza Mestrovic’s biography of her father, the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic, A Gift to Croatia, which is due for publication in 2008.
marcusgt@gmail.com
0207 254 2469