James Forrester is a historian by profession. He has published a few medieval and early modern non-fiction titles under the name Ian Mortimer Ian Mortimer (his full name being Ian James Forrester Mortimer). He lives in Devon with his wife and three children, on the northeast edge of Dartmoor.
The Clarenceux Trilogy was inspired by contemporary documents in the National Archives and the British Library discovered in the course of his scholarly research. The main character is William harley, Clarenceux King of Arms, a herald. It is concerned with loyalty and betrayal - and set in the 1560s, when loyalty to one's spouse, to the state, and to one's religion were exceedingly important - so much so that betrayal of these things could end respectively in flogging, being hanged, drawn and quartered; and being burnt at the stake.