Stephen, Martin 1949–

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Stephen, Martin 1949–

PERSONAL: Born July 18, 1949, in Sheffield, England; son of Sir Andrew (a medical practitioner) and Lady Frances Stephen; married Jennifer Fisher (a headmistress); children: Neill Alexander, Simon James, Henry Johnstone. Education: Attended University of Leeds, 1967–70, and University of Sheffield, 1970–76. Politics: "Private." Religion: Anglican.

ADDRESSES: Office—Manchester Grammar School, Manchester M13 0XT, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Little, Brown and Company, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Writer and educator. Haileybury College, housemaster, 1976–83; Sedbergh School, second master, 1983–86; Perse School, Cambridge, England, headmaster, 1986–94; Manchester Grammar School, Manchester, England, high master, 1994–; member of Headmasters' Conference.

MEMBER: Secondary Heads Association, East India Club, Combination Room at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (associate member).

WRITINGS:

An Introductory Guide to English Literature, Longman (New York, NY), 1984.

Studying Shakespeare, Longman (New York, NY), 1984.

British Warship Designs since 1906, Ian Allan (London, England), 1985.

Sea Battles in Close Up, Naval Institute Press (Annapolis, MD), 1986.

Never Such Innocence, Everyman (London, England), 1991.

English Literature, 2nd edition, Longman (New York, NY), 1991.

The Fighting Admirals, Naval Institute Press (Annapolis, MD), 1991.

The Price of Pity: Poetry, History, and Myth in the Great War, L. Cooper (London, England), 1996.

The Desperate Remedy: Henry Gresham and the Gunpowder Plot (novel), Little, Brown (London, England), 2002.

The Conscience of the King: Henry Gresham and the Shakespeare Conspiracy (novel), Little, Brown (London, England), 2003.

Contributor to numerous periodicals.

SIDELIGHTS: Martin Stephen is the author of several historical novels, including The Desperate Remedy: Henry Gresham and the Gunpowder Plot. Set in Jacobean England, The Desperate Remedy is narrated by Gresham, a double agent who is secretly a Catholic but is also working for the Protestant King James I. Gresham uncovers plots hatched by Catholics against the king and by Protestants trying to stir up a Catholic rebellion so that it can be squashed. Playing both sides, Gresham is caught up in political intrigue in which no one can be trusted. Margaret Flanagan, writing in Booklist, called The Desperate Remedy a "gripping period piece." A Kirkus Reviews contributor found that "a vivid cast and a good grasp of the period make for a gripping debut tale." In a review for the Spectator, Charles Mitchell called the novel "a terrific book, the first of a long series, we must hope." Stephen once told CA: "I'm a headmaster with an obsession about the First World War and naval history."