Michael Dobbs

Michael Dobbs is a British writer and a Conservative politician. A graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, he later completed an M.A., M.A.L.D., and Ph.D. in nuclear defense studies.
Born in 1948 on the same day as Prince Charles, Michael was Chief of Staff and later Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. And somewhere along the way he managed to pick up a doctorate in nuclear defense studies.
In his restless search for a proper job, he’s also been Deputy Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, he presented the BBC TV current affairs programmed Dispatch Box and was a columnist for The Mail on Sunday. He has also recently penned the hugely acclaimed theatre play, ‘The Turning Point’. Yet it is as an author that he has gained most plaudits. After creating the iconic figure of Francis Urquhart he has gone on to write books about Prime Ministers, Kings and the Dalai Lama. He also wrote a series of novels about Winston Churchill that had the critics falling over themselves in praise. Now he’s created the most dangerous character of his career, Harry Jones. As the Financial Times said, “think Die Hard with a stiff upper lip.”
He also has many years of experience in the United States, with a doctorate from Harvard and Tufts universities. He also worked on the Boston Globe throughout the Watergate scandal. House of Cards is one of PBS’s all-time most requested TV series and his Churchill novels have been best-sellers there. He has undertaken many speaking tours, his most recent being described as ‘a coast-to-coast triumph. He is a highly skilled raconteur and is much in demand for corporate and literary events .He has also helped raise tens of thousands of pounds for charities in recent years. Yes, there is a softer side to him, yet his past follows him. One newspaper described Dobbs as “Westminster’s baby-faced hit man.” Another said he was “a man who, in Latin America, would have been shot.” A third wrote that “he was clearly put on this earth to write thrillers of the most shameless page-turning quality.”
Well, they might say that. Michael Dobbs couldn’t possibly comment.
House of Cards has been loosely adapted into a hit TV series starring Kevin Spacey.
Series Reading Order
The Francis Urquhart series continues in To Play The King and The Final Cut.