Simon Sebag Montefiore

Several of Montefiore's books are now being developed as either films or TV drama series. In February 2017, Angelina Jolie announced that she was developing 'Simon Sebag Montefiore's Catherine the Great and Potemkin’ with Universal Studios. Also in early 2017, the film studio Lionsgate Films announced it had bought Montefiore's Jerusalem: the Biography to make it into a long running multi episodic TV drama series which will be 'character-driven, action-filled account of war, betrayal, faith, fanaticism, slaughter, persecution and co-existence in the universal holy city through the ages.' Montefiore has likened it to Game of Thrones. The film scriptwriter and director Neil Jordan has been attached to the project to adapt the book for television, and he will also be acting as producer. In April 2016, 21st Century Fox announced that its animated division Blue Sky Studios, makers of the Ice Age series, had bought ‘'Royal Rabbits of London'’, the children's series of books written by Montefiore and Santa Montefiore, to develop into an animated feature film. In July 2018 it was announced that the screenwriter Will Davies has been attached to the project to adapt the book for the screen. Also in July 2018, it was announced that Hat Trick Productions had taken up an option on Montefiore's novel One Night in Winter, in order to make a TV adaption.

The last novel in the trilogy, Red Sky at Noon (2017), was called 'an exciting fast-paced adventure and a lament for love in dark and brutal times' by the Mail on Sunday; 'a deeply satisfying pageturner – mythic and murderous' by The Times and 'brilliant on multiple levels... offering historical accuracy, a fine empathy for his characters and a story that illuminates the operatic tragedy of Stalin's Russia' by Booklist.

One Night in Winter (2013) was described by The Guardian as 'A gripping thriller about private life and poetic dreams in Stalin's Russia... A gripping pageturner... Whether its subject is power or love, a darkly enjoyable read.'

Montefiore has written a Moscow Trilogy of fictional thrillers, set in Russia. These have received positive reviews. Sashenka (2008) was described by the Washington Post as 'Spellbinding. Sashenka is a historical whodunit with the epic sweep of a Hollywood movie. Montefiore is a natural storyteller who brings his encyclopedic knowledge of Russian history to life in language that glitters like the ice of St. Petersburg'. The Wall Street Journal praised 'This superb novel. Sashenka is unforgettable. Inspiring. Montefiore proves a matchless storyteller, his prose harrowing and precise.'

Montefiore's book Catherine the Great & Potemkin was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Duff Cooper Prize, and the Marsh Biography Award. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar won History Book of the Year at the 2004 British Book Awards. Young Stalin won the LA Times Book Prize for Best Biography, the Costa Book Award, the Bruno Kreisky Award for Political Literature, Le Grand Prix de la Biographie Politique and was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Jerusalem: The Biography was a number one non-fiction Sunday Times bestseller and a global bestseller and won The Jewish Book of the Year Award from the Jewish Book Council. His latest history book is The Romanovs, 1613–1918.

Montefiore's debut novel King's Parade was published in 1991. The Spectator called the book "embarrassing" and "extremely silly". Montefiore is also the author of the novels One Night in Winter and Sashenka. One Night in Winter won the Political Novel of the Year Prize and was longlisted for the Orwell Prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Visiting Professor of Humanities at the University of Buckingham.

Montefiore was educated at Ludgrove School and Harrow School where he was editor of the school newspaper, The Harrovian; he interviewed Margaret Thatcher for The Harrovian in the autumn of 1983. He won an Exhibition to read history at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge where he received his Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD).

Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore (/ˌ s aɪ m ən ˌ s iː b æ ɡ ˌ m ɒ n t ɪ f i ˈ ɔː r i / ; born 27 June 1965) is a British historian, television presenter and author of popular history books and novels.

Simon Montefiore was born in London. His father was Stephen Eric Sebag Montefiore (1926–2014) and his mother was (Phyllis) April Sebag-Montefiore, née Jaffé, (1927–2019). His brother is Hugh Sebag-Montefiore.

At the start of the 19th century, Montefiore's great-great-uncle, Sir Moses Montefiore, was an international financier who worked with the Rothschild family and who became a philanthropist. His mother, Phyllis April Jaffé, comes from a Lithuanian Jewish family of scholars. Her parents fled the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. They bought tickets for New York City, but were cheated, being instead dropped off at Cork, Ireland. Due to the Limerick boycott in 1904 Montefiore's grandfather Henry Jaffé left the country and moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Montefiore's last non-fiction book The Romanovs 1613–1918 (2016) was accused of containing several historical errors by well-known Swedish historian Dick Harrison. However, it has also received many favourable reviews. Olga Grushin in the New York Times observed that the book is 'Spellbinding...This monumental work is an essential addition to the library of anyone interested in Russian history'. Stephen Kotkin in the Wall Street Journal praised the book and noted that 'No author writes better than Montefiore whose perceptiveness and portraiture here are frequently sublime... a marvellous read and the last third from fin de siecle insanity to revolutionary cataclysm is dazzling...'. The historian Antony Beevor noted that the book provided 'Epic history on the grandest scale'. For The Observer John Kampfner described Montefiore's book as 'Riveting...the research is meticulous and the style is captivating'.