Books

THE BEARDY HISTORIAN – Tony McMahon – as seen on TV!

Contact: tonymcmahon@rostraconsulting.org

Join me on YouTube: @tonymcmahon_historybear

Tony McMahon is a successful, award shortlisted author whose books have been reviewed on TV and in the national and international media.

Pen & Sword books is bringing out a trilogy on the Knights Templar – all written by Tony McMahon. Over the next year, the three titles will be published in hardback and paperback. The first book – Knights Templar: History and Mystery – is released in hardback on November 30, 2024. It lifts the lid on the all the secrets about this enigmatic order of holy warriors. Everything you have ever wanted to know!

In May 2024, Troubador books published Jack the Ripper and Abraham Lincoln – a true crime non-fiction paperback shedding new light on the case backed up by evidence from contemporary sources. How did the same man get arrested over the Jack the Ripper killings in 1888 and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. An astonishing story that now sees the light of day!

Tony has also authored a work of historical fiction on the Knights Templar – Quest for the True Cross – published by Euromedia/Bertelsmann. A unique story about an English Templar knight involved in the siege of Lisbon who is trying to recover the true cross of Jesus Christ.

As a journalist, Tony was drawn towards biographies. His life story of the 1980s British boxer Errol Christie was shortlisted for best sports biography of the year (2011) and longlisted for the prestigious William Hill prize. It was published by Aurum Press/Quarto. Sadly, Errol Christie died of cancer in 2017. The book received full page reviews in The Guardian and The Independent as well as shorter reviews in The Sun, The Mirror, and the Daily Mail.

In 2010, the biography of Neville Staple – lead vocalist in The Specials and Fun Boy Three – was published, also by Aurum Press. Reviews appeared in The Guardian, The Independent and Mojo, amongst other publications. It has proved to be very popular with ska and 2Tone fans.

For a decade, Tony worked as a communications consultant tackling issues around radicalisation and violent extremism. During this time, he co-wrote an analysis of political Islamism with the UK government’s then commissioner on violent extremism Dame Sara Khan that was launched at Waterstones in Piccadilly and reviewed in The Sunday Times, BBC, Sky News, CNN and the Guardian.