James Pope-Hennessy was a writer of unusual range and beguilingly fluent style. He was born and educated at Downside and Balliol College, Oxford. From 1947 to 1949 he was literary editor of "The Spectator". By then, he had already decided that writing was his vocation, and for the rest of his life he earned his living by the pen.

Apparently he was beaten to death in his flat while entertaining some rough trade.