Author and literary critic.
Born: 21 December 1905; Westminster, London.
Died: 28 March 2000; Somerset.

Anthony Dymoke Powell, the son of an army officer, was educated at Eton (where he won the 1923 Oppidan Prize) and Balliol College, Oxford where he read History. At Eton & Oxford he met many of the young writers of the day, including Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Henry Yorke and Harold Acton.

On leaving Oxford, Powell worked from 1926 to 1936 as publisher's assistant and editor for Duckworth & Co. He resigned from Duckworth's in 1936 to work for six months as a script-writer of "quota quickie" films for Warner Bros at their Teddington studios. He subsequently spent some time travelling in the USA and Mexico.

On returning to England in 1937 Powell settled to life as a full-time novelist and literary critic, his first books, The Barnard Letters (1928) and the novel Afternoon Men (1931), having been published by Duckworth while he was still working there.

During World War II Powell held a commission in the Army, initially as a Second Lieutenant with the Welch Regiment. He was subsequently seconded to the Intelligence Corps, as a Liaison Officer in Allied Liaison; here he worked closely with the Poles, Czechs, Belgians, Luxembourgers and the Free French, rising to the rank of Major. In recognition of his work with Allied Liaison, Powell was awarded the Czechoslovakian Order of the White Lion, the Belgian Order of Leopold II and the Luxembourg Croix de Guerre and Order of the Oaken Crown.

On leaving the Army at the end of 1945 AP returned to the life of a novelist and literary critic and in 1951 published A Question of Upbringing, the first volume of what was to become his 12-volume masterwork A Dance to the Music of Time which was published over the ensuing almost 25 years. Although Dance is not autobiographical much of its content does lean heavily on AP's own experiences, as he himself admitted.

In addition Powell published a number of other novels, two plays, a life of the diarist John Aubrey, four volumes of memoirs, three volumes of diaries and two volumes of his collected literary criticism. His novel At Lady Molly's (fourth book in the Dance series) was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1957 and Temporary Kings (eleventh book in the Dance series) was awarded WH Smith Literary Award in 1974.

His journalistic output, mostly literary criticism, is immense. Powell was a book reviewer and literary critic for a number of periodicals including the Daily Telegraph (variously from 1937 to 1990), the Times Literary Supplement, Punch (where he was Literary Editor from 1953 to 1959) and the Spectator.

Powell was a Trustee of the National Portrait Galley from 1962 to 1976. He was also renowned for his interest in genealogy and in 1997 was made a Vice-President of the Society of Genealogists. Powell was awarded numerous honorary degrees and made an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College in 1974.

Powell was awarded the CBE in 1956 and made a Companion of Honour in 1988. In 1973 he was offered a knighthood by the then Prime Minister, Edward Heath; this he declined, feeling it inappropriate for a writer.

In 1934 Powell married the author and historian Lady Violet Pakenham (b. 1912), third daughter of the 5th Earl of Longford. They have two sons: Tristram (b. 1940) and John (b. 1946). In 1952 they left London to live in Somerset.