Sonia Purnell is a prize-winning bestselling author, broadcaster and journalist known for her lively writing style, meticulous research and inspirational speaking. She has sold over a million books worldwide and won fans from American presidents and first ladies to members of the special forces to teachers and British politicians from across the party spectrum.

Her works have been optioned by leading film-makers and have been translated into more than twenty languages. Her last three books have recounted the astonishing lives of formidable and stylish women who triumphed against the odds to shape the world today in ways never previously revealed or understood.

Her first book – the unauthorized biography of Boris Johnson called Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition – was long listed for the Orwell prize in 2011. As the first to challenge his track record and integrity (Sonia was informed by her time serving as his deputy in Brussels) it changed the national debate and remains the definitive biography. Sonia has become the go-to commentator at home and abroad on his rise to power and record in office.

Her second book, First Lady in the UK and Clementine in the US, (a finalist for the Plutarch prize) shed light for the first time on the vital role played in Winston Churchill’s career by his wife Clementine. The book has subsequently shaped Clementine’s portrayal on screen, including in the Netflix series The Crown when she was played by Harriet Walter who described Sonia’s writing as a “whirlwind of fresh air” that opens “a door…into a flood of sunlight”.

Sonia’s third work, A Woman of No Importance, is the inspirational true-life tale of a female spy in WWII, Virginia Hall, a young American socialite with a wooden leg, who helped fan the flames of French Resistance. A tale of resilience, courage, ingenuity and ultimately triumph over adversity, it became an instant New York Times Bestseller when published in 2019, remained on the list for many weeks, and won the prestigious Plutarch Prize for Best Biography in 2020.

Her latest book Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction & Intrigue came out in September 2024 to huge critical and reader acclaim. It has been hailed as a Book of the Year by no fewer than fifteen media outlets from the Guardian to The New Yorker via the New York Times and The Economist.

Kingmaker is an electrifying re-examination of one of the 20th century’s greatest unsung power players as well as an eye-popping tale of sex, money, politics and fabulous clothes. Previously written off as a courtesan and social climber, Pamela Harriman’s true legacy has been overshadowed by her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes to change the world – not least using sex to cement the vital Anglo-American alliance during WWII and 50 years later helping to end the genocide in Bosnia – has remained invisible and secret. That is, until now.

Sonia has appeared on countless TV shows, radio programmes and podcasts across the world including Morning Joe on MSNBC, Good Morning Britain on ITV, Today on BBC Radio 4, NPR in the US as well as other countries such as Australia, France and Brazil. She has contributed to many documentaries including, most recently, the Netflix docuseries Churchill at War and History’s Secret Heroes on Radio 4. She is currently in talks for another with the BBC.

She has written, among others, for the Guardian, Sunday Times, Washington Post, New York Times, Daily Mail and the New Statesman. Fluent in French and with conversational Italian, she was educated at Guildford County Grammar School and Sussex and Florence Universities and seeks to relax by swimming in cold-ish water. She lives in London with her husband.