Simon Schama

Sir Simon Schama, CBE, FBA is Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University; author of 18 books translated into 20 languages, including Landscape and Memory, Rembrandt's Eyes, Rough Crossings, The American Future: A History and most recently the second volume in his Jewish history trilogy, Belonging, short-listed for the Baillie-Gifford Prize.

He was The New Yorker magazine's  art critic in the 1990s for which he won the National Magazine award and is currently Contributing Editor of the Financial Times. He is  the writer presenter of more than fifty television documentaries for the BBC, PBS and the History Channel, made over a quarter of a century, and including the Emmy-winning Power of Art. Those series including the 15 part A History of Britain, The Story of the Jews and the recent Civilisations have been broadcast and acclaimed all over the world.

He has written fiction (Dead Certainties) and theatre (Decade, commemorating 9/11) for Rupert Goold's Headlong Theatre with whom he also collaborated on a stage version of Rough Crossings which was also a 90 minute docudrama for the BBC. His television work has won numerous awards and he has been nominated for BAFTAs for many of his series.