author
James Augustus St. John
1795–1875
A restless 19th-century traveler and journalist, he turned wide-ranging journeys and fierce curiosity into books on politics, history, and the Middle East. His work brings together firsthand observation, strong opinions, and the energy of a writer who lived close to the events he described.
6 Audiobooks
The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume 2 (of 3)
by James Augustus St. John
The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume 3 (of 3)
by James Augustus St. John
The Lives of Celebrated Travellers, Vol. 3 (of 3)
by James Augustus St. John
The lives of celebrated travellers, Vol. 1. (of 3)
by James Augustus St. John
The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume 1 (of 3)
by James Augustus St. John
The Lives of Celebrated Travellers, Vol. 2 (of 3)
by James Augustus St. John
About the author
Born in Wales in 1795, James Augustus St. John became a British journalist, writer, and traveler whose career stretched across politics, biography, history, and travel writing. He was known for a remarkably wide range of interests and for drawing on direct experience as well as extensive reading.
He worked in journalism early in life and built a reputation as a prolific author. Sources on his life consistently connect him with travel in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and those experiences fed into books on Egypt and other subjects beyond Britain. He also wrote on social and political themes, giving his work a lively, argumentative edge that still feels tied to the fast-moving print culture of the 19th century.
St. John died in 1875. He is also remembered as part of a literary family: several of his sons, including Bayle St. John and Percy Bolingbroke St. John, went on to become writers as well.