Nicholas Foulkes is the author of around 20 books on subjects as diverse as James Bond, porcelain and the trenchcoat. He is best known for his critically acclaimed trilogy of 19th century histories: Scandalous Society, (a biography of Count d'Orsay); Dancing Into Battle, A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo; and Gentlemen and Blackguards, Gambling Mania and the plot to steal the Derby of 1844. He contributes to a wide range of newspapers and magazines around the world. He is a columnist for Country Life; a contributing editor to The FT's How To Spend It Magazine, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair; and luxury editor of British GQ. He launched and continues to edit Vanity Fair's twice yearly watch magazine On Time. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Finch's Quarterly Review. In 2007 he was named Havana Man of the Year by the Cuban government, having been nominated for this award on four previous occasions. In 2009 he was appointed to the board of the Norman Mailer Centre.

He is a graduate of Hertford College Oxford and lives in London with his wife and two sons.