James Forrester is the fiction-writing persona (the middle names) of the historian, Dr Ian J. F. Mortimer. He was born in Kent in 1967 and educated at Eastbourne College, the University of Exeter and University College London. He now lives with his wife and three children on the edge of Dartmoor, in the southwest of England.

As Ian Mortimer he has pioneered a number of new literary forms in history, from writing guidebooks for those 'visiting' the past (The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England) to a day-by-day account of a king over a particular year (1415: Henry V's Year of Glory). He has also published essays about the nature of history, scholarly articles and books, historical biographies and poetry. As James Forrester he breaks away from the constraints of historical fact and throws himself enthusiastically into fiction, using his imagination freely to tell stories within a well-researched historical social setting. The intention is to entice, delight, thrill, shock, inspire, educate and enthrall readers - and just possibly to suggest some poetic understandings that are true of people in all centuries, not just our own.

Click this link to if you want an explanation as to why Ian-James uses a different name for historical fiction?

For further information about the author, including biographical information, see the Ian Mortimer website