David Nokes

David Nokes FRSL (11 March 1948 – 19 November 2009) was a scholar of 18th-century English literature known for his biographies of Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Jane Austen, and Samuel Johnson. He also penned screenplays, including a BBC adaptation of Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa (1991) and an adaptation of Anne Brontë's novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996).^[1] He was also a leading reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books.^[2]

Nokes attended King's College School, Wimbledon, London. He received an MA from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1974.^[2] He started teaching at King's College London in 1973, was elevated to reader in 1986, and was promoted to Professor of English Literature in 1998.^[2]

In 1994, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.^[3]

Books

• Jonathan Swift: A Hypocrite Reversed (1985)
• John Gay: A Profession of Friendship (1995)
• Jane Austen: A Life (1997)
• The Nightingale Papers (2001)
• Samuel Johnson: A Life (2009)