John Keay
| John Keay | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1941 Barnstaple, Devon, England |
| Residence | Argyll, Scotland |
| Occupation | Writer and historian |
| Known for | Histories of colonial Asia |
| Spouse(s) | Amanda Keay (2015-), Julia Keay (died 2011) |
| Relatives | Anna Keay, Humphrey Atkins, Simon Thurley |
John Stanley Melville Keay FRGS, widely known as John Keay, (pronounced 'Kay') is a British historian, journalist, radio presenter and lecturer specialising in popular histories of India, the Far East and China, often with a particular focus on their colonisation and exploration by Europeans. In particular, he is widely seen as a pre-eminent historian of British India. He is known both for stylistic flair and meticulous research into archival primary sources, including centuries-old unpublished sources.
The author of over twenty books, he also writes regularly for a number of prominent publications in Britain and Asia. He began his career with The Economist. He has received several major honours including the Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal. The Economist has called him "a gifted non-academic historian", the Yorkshire Post has called him "one of our most outstanding historians", The Independent has called his writing "exquisite" and The Guardian has described his historical analysis as "forensic". He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Keay lives in Argyll in the West Highlands of Scotland and travels widely.
John Keay was born on 18 September 1941 in Barnstaple, Devon, England, to parents of Scottish origin. His father Stanley Walter Keay (1902-72) was a master mariner and his mother Florence Jessie née Keeping (1905-92) was a housewife. He studied at Ampleforth College in York before going on to read Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he earned high honours. Among his teachers at Oxford were the historian A. J. P. Taylor and the future playwright Alan Bennett. In 1965 he visited India for the first time. He went to Kashmir for a fortnight's trout-fishing and liked it so much that he returned the following year, this time for six months. It was during his second stay in Kashmir that Keay decided upon writing as a career. From India, he sent unsolicited articles to many British magazines and newspapers and eventually joined the staff of The Economist (1965-71) and returned to India often as its political correspondent. He also started contributing stories to BBC Radio.
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