Thomas Pakenham, the eldest son of Lord and Lady Longford, was educated at Ampleforth and Oxford. He divides his time between London and Ireland.
Vast, scholarly and delightful * Spectator * Magnificent, swashbuckling . . . epic * Observer * Masterly, full of pace and character * TLS * Once again Pakenham shows a dazzling, almost filmic ability to tell a good story * Independent on Sunday * Pakenham tells the story with pace and compulsive readability . . . conceived on a grand scale with all the colour and control of a master artist * Evening Standard *