Rupert Christiansen is an English writer, journalist and critic, grandson of Arthur Christiansen (editor of the Daily Express) and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen (editor of the Sunday and Daily Mirror). Born in London, he was educated at Millfield and King’s College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in English. As a Fulbright scholar, he also attended Columbia University from 1977 to 1978.
Books in order of publication:
Prima Donna: A History (1984)
The Grand Obsession – An Anthology of Opera (1988)
Romantic Affinities: Portraits From an Age, 1780–1830 (1988)
Paris Babylon: Grandeur, Decadence and Revolution 1869–75 (1995
The Visitors: Culture Shock in 19th Century Britain (2000)
The Voice of Victorian Sex: Arthur H Clough 1819–1861 (2001)
Faber Pocket Guide to Opera (2002; revised 2014)
William Shakespeare: The Mystery of the World’s Greatest Playwright (2003)
The Complete Book of Aunts (2006)
Once More, with Feeling! A Book of Classic Hymns & Carols (2007)
I Know You’re Going to be Happy: A Story of Love and Betrayal (2013)
City of Light: The Reinvention of Paris (2018)
Diaghilev’s Empire: How the Ballets Russes Enthralled the World (2022)
Oak Lawn Library Friends 