peter stanford

‍ Peter Stanford is a writer, journalist, broadcaster and prison reform campaigner. His biography of Lord Longford was the basis for Channel 4's 2006 multi-award winning drama, Longford. His other biography subjects include: Martin Luther; the Poet Laureate, C Day-Lewis; and most recently the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, published by Hodder on June 10, 2026, the 100th anniversary of his death.

‍His writings on the history, theology and cultural significance of religious ideas range from The Devil: A Biography (televised by the BBC) to Pilgrimage: Journeys of Meaning, How To Read a Graveyard, Judas: The Troubling History of the Renegade Apostle and Angels: A Visible and Invisible History. His books have been translated into twelve languages.  A former editor of the Catholic Herald , he writes features for Telegraph titles and has an interview column in the Tablet.  

He has presented television documentaries based on his own books including the award-winning Channel 4 series, Catholics and Sex and BBC 1's The She Pope (on Pope Joan), as well as Channel 5's The Mission. On radio, he has been a regular panellist on the BBC Radio 4’s s The Moral Maze and hosted Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday.

Born in 1961 and raised in Birkenhead, he has been director of the Longford Trust for penal reform since 2002.  

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