Laurence Gardner Biography

Laurence Gardner, who sadly died in August 2010, was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a Knight Templar, holding a number of chivalric offices in Western and Central Europe. Best known as a revisionist and constitutional historian, Laurence was a regular transatlantic broadcaster giving lecture presentations around the world in centres such as London, Edinburgh, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, New York, Seattle, Los Angeles and Sydney.

Formerly Conservation Consultant to the Fine Art Trade Guild, his libretto compositions have been performed at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His writing career included collaborative projects with national institutions such as the British Tourist Authority, The Queen’s Bays Regiment, the Government of Ontario and the Russian Ministry of Culture.

Laurence received an Author of the Year distinction from Hatchard's of Piccadilly in 1997. His books, which have been published in many languages, have made The Times and Sunday Times bestseller charts and been serialised in the Daily Mail. His publishers included HarperCollins, Transworld and Penguin, and four of his books are currently optioned in Hollywood for cinema movie production.

How I Found the Agency

My introduction to Andrew Lownie occurred by way of a publishing industry contact. When Bloodline of the Holy Grail was published in 1996, I was liaising on another project with Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson of the publishers Sinclair-Stevenson. He subsequently began a new operation as a literary agent, and I approached him early in 2001 after my hitherto agent had changed companies. Not wishing to follow employed persons from pillar to post, I was looking for future continuity and an individual with his or her own literary agency. Christopher was an obvious first choice for advice in this regard and, knowing my work, he was very quick to respond. He recommended an agent, whom he said was "every sound on history in particular" and that the right man for my books would be Andrew Lownie.