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Susan Ronald (Author)
Susan Ronald (30 November 1951—) is a British American author and historian, mainly of non-fiction history and biographies. [1 ]

Early Life.

She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her parents moved to New York when she was in her early teens.

She studied at Université de Dijon in France (now Université de Bourgogne) and University of Cincinnati in Ohio. As a fluent French speaker, she landed a job at Le Méridien Hotels in New York and served as the company secretary, treasurer for North America and finally as a director of Development, before leaving to raise her three sons.

Moving to England in the mid-eighties, Ronald became one of few recognised authorities in the investment banking community for the conversion of historic properties to alternate uses, working for over twenty years for five departments of the British government, the National Trust, high net worth individuals and foreign governments.

Writing Career.

Ronald’s first published book, France the Crossroads of Europe (Dillon Press/Macmillan, 1984), was written while she was a full-time mother. After the move to England, Ronald set aside her writing aspirations to support her family until 2002, when she met New York-based literary agent, Alexander C. Hoyt, who has since represented her for the sale of most of her books. Soon after, Ronald was commissioned by Wiley & Sons to write The Sancy Blood Diamond (Wiley, 2004) about one of the world’s ten most ancient and famous diamonds. While still working full-time as a corporate finance adviser living in the U.K., her second book, The Pirate Queen – Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers and the Dawn of Empire (HarperCollins, 2007), was published to critical acclaim.

Personal Life.

Ronald lives with her husband, Dr Douglas Ronald. Dr Ronald, was also a corporate finance adviser in the same company, and returned to university in 2009 to obtain his PhD in Maritime History at Exeter University (granted in 2012). He is the author of two books, and is currently working on a biography of John André, head of the British secret service during the Revolutionary War for Casemate Books. Today, they live together in rural Devon.

From 2008 to 2010, Ronald was the secretary and treasurer of The Biographers’ Club. In 2009, she also became the Chief Executive Officer of The British Shakespeare Association, converting it to an educational charity. In 2010, Ronald co-produced the first promenade performance of Hamlet at Elsinore Castle including workshops.

She has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and Manufacture (FRSA) since 2009.

Ronald retired from corporate finance advisory work in 2011 to set up a film company dedicated to transposing great books to film and write scripts as well as books. She continues to write full-time. Ronald is currently writing a biography of the publisher Condé Nast for St. Martin’s Press.

Books.

France: The Crossroads of Europe (Dillon Press, Macmillan, 1984)

The Sancy Blood Diamond (J. Wiley & Sons, 2004)

The Pirate Queen—Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers and the Dawn of Empire (HarperCollins, 2007)

Heretic Queen—Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion (St. Martin’s Press, 2012)

Shakespeare’s Daughter—A Novel (R&R Books, 2013)

Hitler’s Art Thief—Hildebrand Gurlitt, the Nazis and the Looting of Europe’s Treasures (St. Martin’s Press, 2015)

A Dangerous Woman—American Beauty, Noted Philanthropist, Nazi Collaborator: The Life of Florence Gould (St. Martin’s Press, publication date February 20, 2018)