Michael Korda was born in London in 1933 and has lived in the United States since 1958. He was educated at Le Rosey, in Switzerland, did his military service in the Royal Air Force, and then attended Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1956, he drove to Budapest with three friends to deliver medical supplies to the insurgents, for which he was made a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 2006.
After working briefly for CBS TV in New York City, Korda joined Simon and Schuster as an assistant editor in 1958, and subsequently became managing editor, executive editor, and editor in chief. Over nearly five decades his authors have included presidents Carter, Reagan, and Nixon; Charles de Gaulle; Dr. Henry Kissinger; Mayor Ed Koch; the Duchess of York; such stars as Cher, Kirk Douglas, and Shelley Winters; such media figures as Phil Donahue and Larry King; historians such as David McCullough, Richard Rhodes, Michael Beschloss, and Cornelius Ryan; novelists Larry McMurtry, Jacqueline Susann, Jackie Collins, Mary Higgins Clark, James Leo Herlihy, Susan Howatch, James Lee Burke, and Stephen Hunter; and such theater figures as Tennessee Williams, John Gielgud, and Laurence Olivier. Korda is now editor in chief emeritus of Simon and Schuster.
His books include the #1 bestseller Power, the best-selling novels Queenie and The Fortune, a widely acclaimed book about his family, Charmed Lives, and, more recently, Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia, With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain, Ike: An American Hero, Country Matters, Another Life, Horse People, Ulysses S. Grant, Journey to a Revolution, and Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee.