Thomas Coulson

Thomas Coulson was a British author who also served in the army. A Libraries NI profile identifies him as born on January 9, 1886, in South Shields, England, and notes that he worked as a librarian's assistant in his youth before military service changed the course of his life.

During the First World War, he served with the Royal Garrison Artillery and was captured in 1914. He spent years as a prisoner of war in Germany, an experience that likely helped shape the strong interest in war, intelligence, and public history seen in his later writing.

Coulson is best remembered for Mata Hari: Courtesan and Spy, published by Harper & Brothers in 1930, and for writing about other espionage figures as well. He also wrote on institutional history, including The Franklin Institute from 1824 to 1949, showing a range that went beyond spy biography into historical and scientific subjects.