Simon Heffer was born in 1960. He read English at Cambridge and took a PhD in modern history at that university. His previous books include- Moral Desperado- A Life of Thomas Carlyle, Like the Roman- The Life of Enoch Powell, Power and Place- The Political Consequences of King Edward VII, Nor Shall My Sword- The Reinvention of England, Vaughan Williams, Strictly English, A Short History of Power, Simply English and High Minds- The Victorians and the Birth of Modern Britain. In a thirty-year career in Fleet Street, he has held senior editorial positions on The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator, and is now a columnist for The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.
Staring at God is a vast compendium of atrocious political conduct. Refreshing . . . [The book]'s length is due to the author's enormous enthusiasm. A trenchant history. * The Times * Enlightening . . . Robust opinion, an eye for telling detail and a gift for bringing historical figures alive . . . An epic, ambitious book. -- History Books of the Year * Daily Mail * Fresh insights, vast scope and caustic judgement. Possibly the finest, most comprehensive analysis of the home front in the Great War ever produced. Compelling reading. * Literary Review * Gloriously rich and spirited . . . colourful, character-driven history . . . it zips along, leavened by so many wonderful cultural and social details. -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Sunday Times * A brilliant history: The first serious and really wide-ranging history of the Home Front during the Great War for decades. Scholarly, objective and extremely well-written. A masterclass . . . that ought to be taught in schools. It is filled with surprising revelations . . . and empathy. Heffer's eye for the telling detail is evident on almost every page. -- Professor Andrew Roberts, 5* * Telegraph *