Peter Berresford Ellis

Peter Berresford Ellis
Peter Berresford Ellis in Emly, Ireland
Born	(1943-03-10) 10 March 1943 (age 74) Coventry
Nationality	British
Other names	Peter Tremayne, Peter MacAlan
Education	Brighton College of Art; University of London
Alma mater	North East London Polytechnic
Occupation	writer
Known for	Celtic history, literary biography, historical novels

Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943 in Coventry) is a historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 98 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 100 short stories. Under Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma historical mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.

Peter Berresford Ellis was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England. His father was a Cork-born journalist who started his career on The Cork Examiner. The Ellis family can be traced in the area from 1288. His mother was from an old Sussex family of Saxon origin that traces its lineage back through 14 generations in the same area. Her mother was of Breton descent.

Educated at Brighton College of Art and the University of London, Ellis graduated from North East London Polytechnic (now part of the University of East London) in Celtic Studies in 1989. He also has a master's degree in Celtic Studies from the University of East London (1993).

He began his career as a junior reporter on an English south coast weekly, becoming deputy editor of an Irish weekly newspaper and was then editor of a weekly publishing trade journal in London. He first went as a feature writer to Northern Ireland in 1964 for a London daily newspaper. His first book was published in 1968: Wales: a Nation Again, on the Welsh struggle for political independence, with a foreword by Gwynfor Evans, Plaid Cymru's first MP.