Neal Ascherson

Appearing on television discussion programme After Dark in 1987

Charles Neal Ascherson (born 5 October 1932) is a Scottish journalist and writer.

Background

Ascherson was born in Edinburgh on 5 October 1932. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, where he read history and graduated with a triple starred first degree. The historian Eric Hobsbawm was his tutor at Cambridge and described Ascherson as "perhaps the most brilliant student I ever had. I didn't really teach him much, I just let him get on with it."

Career

After graduating he declined offers to pursue an academic career. Instead, he chose a career in journalism, first at The Manchester Guardian and then at The Scotsman (1959–1960), The Observer (1960–1990) and The Independent on Sunday (1990–1998). He contributed scripts for the documentary series The World at War (1973–74) and the The Cold War (1998). He has also been a regular contributor to the London Review of Books.

Ascherson has lectured and written extensively about Polish and Eastern Europe affairs.

As of 2016 Ascherson is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. He has been editor of Public Archaeology, an academic journal associated with UCL devoted to CRM and public archaeology issues and developments, since its inception in 1999.

In 1991 Ascherson was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University. On St Andrew's Day 2011 at their Anniversary Meeting the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland elected Ascherson an Honorary Fellow.

Personal life

Neal Ascherson's first wife was Corrina Adam; the couple first met at Cambridge University and married in 1958. They had two daughters together before separating in 1974. The couple divorced in 1982. Corinna Ascherson, also a journalist, died in March 2012. In 1984, he married his second wife, the journalist Isabel Hilton. The couple currently live in London and have two (now adult) children, Iona and Alexander. His aunt was the British actress Renée Asherson.

Bibliography

• The Spanish Civil War (Granada Television serial script, 1983)
• with Magnus Linklater and Isabel Hilton
• Opposition to Turkey's Ilisu Dam rises again with Maggie Ronayne, published 27 November 2007, chinadialogue

External links

• Works by or about Neal Ascherson in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Neal Ascherson's CV at PFD
• Neal Ascherson at the Internet Movie Database
• Neal Ascherson - Guardian
• Neal Ascherson - Prospect