Stephen Cooper

Award-winning author STEPHEN COOPER was born in Birmingham, England. After Cambridge University, he was a MadMan in New York, London and Toronto; he first began writing as a travel journalist. His grandfather fought at the Somme, but refused to tel the tale and so inspired a lifelong fascination for The Great War. After playing and coaching rugby for longer than he can remember, his first book therefore combined two of his many passions.

Praised by commentators as diverse as Fergal Keane, Sir Anthony Seldon and Jason Leonard, it won Rugby Book of the Year at the 2013 Times British Sports Book Awards, featured in BBC TV's World War One At Home and has been optioned for West End theatre. A regular speaker, Stephen lives in Suffolk. A second book was published in August 2015: After The Final Whistle: The First Rugby World Cup and the First World War. He is now at work on a first novel, Pear-shaped.