author

Henry Downes Miles

1806–1889

A Victorian journalist and prolific writer, he is best remembered for lively books on boxing, sport, and popular adventure. His work preserves the color and personalities of 19th-century sporting life in vivid detail.

3 Audiobooks

Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 1 (of 3) Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers, With Authentic Portraits, Personal Anecdotes, and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of the Prize Ring, Forming a Complete History of the Ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-40, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863

Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 1 (of 3) Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers, With Authentic Portraits, Personal Anecdotes, and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of the Prize Ring, Forming a Complete History of the Ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-40, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863

by Henry Downes Miles

Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 3 (of 3) Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers, With Authentic Portraits, Personal Anecdotes, and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of the Prize Ring, Forming a Complete History of the Ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-40, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863

Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 3 (of 3) Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers, With Authentic Portraits, Personal Anecdotes, and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of the Prize Ring, Forming a Complete History of the Ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-40, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863

by Henry Downes Miles

Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 2 (of 3) Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers, With Authentic Portraits, Personal Anecdotes, and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of the Prize Ring, Forming a Complete History of the Ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-1740, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863

Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, Volume 2 (of 3) Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers, With Authentic Portraits, Personal Anecdotes, and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of the Prize Ring, Forming a Complete History of the Ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-1740, to the Last Championship Battle Between King and Heenan, in December 1863

by Henry Downes Miles

About the author

Born in 1806 and active through the Victorian period, Henry Downes Miles was a British journalist and author whose writing ranged from popular fiction to sporting history. Bibliographic and reference sources consistently describe him as a journalist and author, and surviving records connect him with a large body of 19th-century publications.

Miles is most closely associated with Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing, the substantial multi-volume work for which he is now best known. That book gathered reports from earlier newspapers and biographical sketches of fighters and patrons, helping preserve a colorful slice of boxing history for later readers.

He also wrote adventure and historical works, including titles such as Dick Turpin and Will Watch, showing the breadth of his appeal beyond sport alone. Henry Downes Miles died in 1889, but his books remain of interest to readers drawn to Victorian popular writing and the early history of prizefighting.