Toby Wilkinson

Toby Wilkinson is an Egyptologist and the prize-winning author of fourteen books on the history and culture of the Nile Valley, ancient and modern. Lauded by the Daily Telegraph as ‘the foremost Egyptologist of his time’ and by the New York Times as ‘a consummate historian’, his works include The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, which won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize, was a Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year, and a New York Times bestseller. Recent books include the critically acclaimed A World Beneath the Sands (New York Times editors’ choice, Amazon Top 20 Best Science Books of 2020, Times Best History Books of the Year 2020), and Tutankhamun's Trumpet, described by the Sunday Times as ‘a revelatory history’.

Toby first became interested in ancient Egypt at the age of five. He studied Egyptology at the University of Cambridge, graduating with a First Class Honours degree and winning the university prize. After completing his doctoral research at Cambridge, he held Research Fellowships at Cambridge and Durham universities followed by a series of senior leadership positions in British and overseas universities. Toby is currently a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a member of the international editorial board of the Journal of Egyptian History.

His new book, Ramesses the Great: Egypt's King of Kings, will be published by Yale University Press on 23 May 2023.