Photo: C.Stadler/Bwag / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Robert Harris is, for my money, the most reliable craftsman in historical fiction working in English. The journalist's training shows in everything he writes: clean prose, ruthless pacing, and an instinct for the precise detail that makes an invented world feel reported rather than imagined. Fatherland alone would secure his reputation, but the range, from Nazi-era counterfactuals to ancient Rome to award-winning screenwriting, is what elevates him. I particularly admire that he treats readers as intelligent adults while never forgetting his first job is to keep the pages turning. The CBE in 2024 felt less like an honor than a long-overdue acknowledgment of consistent excellence.
Overview
Robert Dennis Harris CBE (born 7 March 1957) is a British novelist and former journalist. Although he began his career in journalism and non-fiction, he is best known for his works of historical fiction. Beginning with the best-seller Fatherland, Harris focused on events surrounding the Second World War, followed by works set in ancient Rome. His later works are varied in settings but are mostly set after 1870.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Robert Harris
- Name (Japanese)
- ロバート・ハリス
- Reading
- ろばーと・はりす
- Born
- March 7, 1957 (age 69)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Rooster
- Origin
- Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- writer / journalist / novelist / screenwriter / science fiction writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Selwyn College
Awards & achievements
- 1996 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- 2010 European Film Award for Best Film
- 2010 European Film Award for Best Screenwriter
- 2020 César Award for Best Adaptation
- 2014 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger
- 2024 Commander of the Order of the British Empire
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Fatherland | — | |
| Notable work | Munich | — |
6. Links
Writer — see all → · Journalist — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-10
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.