Dr David Nokes taught English Literature at King’s College, London, specialising in the eighteenth century. His biography of Jonathan Swift, A Hypocrite Reversed (Oxford University Press 1985) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Nokes was also the author of John Gay: A Profession of Friendship (Oxford University Press 1995) and his biography, Jane Austen (Fourth Estate 1997), was acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic.

His first novel, The Nightingale Papers, was published by Hesperus in 2005. David also wrote for television, both original screenplays and highly praised adaptations including Richardson’s Clarissa and Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. He also contributed reviews to the TLS, the Spectator and Sunday broadsheets.

Nokes’ last published work was the highly acclaimed biography of Dr Johnson, Samuel Johnson: A Life, published for Johnson’s tercentenary in 2009 by Faber & Faber and Henry Holt & Co.