E. L. Doctorow

E. L. Doctorow was an American novelist, editor and academic whose fiction repeatedly reimagined the political and social history of the United States. Born in New York in 1931, he studied at Kenyon College and Columbia University before working in publishing, including as an editor at the Dial Press. His early novel Welcome to Hard Times used the conventions of the Western to examine violence and community, while The Book of Daniel drew upon the Rosenberg espionage case to explore political radicalism, family trauma and Cold War America. He died in 2015.

Doctorow is best known for Ragtime, which brings fictional families together with historical figures in early twentieth-century New York, and for novels including World’s Fair, Billy Bathgate, The Waterworks and The March. The latter follows soldiers and civilians during General Sherman’s destructive campaign through the American South. By blending documented events with invention, Doctorow examined industrialisation, immigration, organised crime, racial injustice, war and the uncertain boundary between public history and personal memory. His honours included the National Book Award, two PEN/Faulkner Awards, three National Book Critics Circle Awards and the National Humanities Medal.