Daniel Smith is an English non-fiction writer. He is the author of the best-selling How to Think Like… biographical series for Michael O’Mara, which has been translated into some 20 languages.
Daniel Smith was born in London and studied English and History at Cardiff University. He began a career in publishing shortly after graduating, which included a stint working in Kolkata, India. He has been a contributor to The Statesman’s Yearbook, a geo-political guide to the world published annually since 1854, for twenty years.
He wrote his first book, The Sherlock Holmes Companion: An Elementary Guide, in 2009 and has subsequently written over 30 non-fiction titles, for both adults and children.
In 2010 he wrote The Spade as Mighty as the Sword, a history of the Second World War Dig for Victory campaign (‘as much a preparation for the future as a hymn to the past’—John Carey). His non-fiction book The Ardlamont Mystery: The Real-Life Story Behind the Creation of Sherlock Holmes (2019) received good reviews from critics.
'Fascinating and expertly written' — said Andrew Lycett, an English biographer, and journalist.
His most recent narrative non-fiction book is The Peer and the Gangster (2020). Drawing upon recently released MI5 files, government papers, extensive interviews, and a wide array of contemporary reports and secondary sources, Daniel Smith recreates the scandalous 1964 story of the Conservative lord Lord Boothby and the gangster Ronnie Kray.
A member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association, he lives in East London with his wife and two children.
Not to be confused with Dan Smith, the American author of adventure/survival novels for younger readers and thrillers for adults.
