Chris West

Chris West (born 1954) is a British writer. He works in a range of genres: business, history and crime / general fiction. His China Quartet, four mysteries written in the 1990s, were among the first crime novels to be set in the contemporary People's Republic of China.

This article is about the business, history and crime fiction writer. For the Catholic author, see Christopher West. For the member of the Maryland House of Delegates, see Chris West (politician).

After studying economics and philosophy at the London School of Economics, West travelled in China, leading to his first book, Journey to the Middle Kingdom in 1991. Following that, he wrote the four crime novels featuring Wang Anzhuang, a mid-ranking detective in the Beijing Xing Zhen Ke (Criminal Investigation Department) and his wife, Rosina Lin, a nurse at the Capital Hospital. These are now being reissued as ebooks, with Wang's name changed to Bao Zheng (a reference to a hero of traditional Chinese detective stories from the Song Dynasty).

On completing this series, West concentrated on co-authoring books aimed at entrepreneurs and small businesses, the first of which was The Beermat Entrepreneur,[1] co-authored with entrepreneur and speaker Mike Southon [2] (Southon and West were both members of The Oxcentrics, an Oxford-based Dixieland jazz band, in which West played the drums.[3]). This book was reissued in 2018 in an updated edition.

West's most recent co-authored work is Think like an Entrepreneur with entrepreneur Robbie Steinhouse. He has also worked on other projects as a 'ghost' writer.

As a solo author he wrote Marketing on a Beermat and a guide to good, clear writing, Perfect Written English.

He has recently written social history, using everyday objects as 'ways in' to the subject. First Class, a History of Britain in 36 Postage Stamps was published in 2012, and A History of America in 36 Postage Stamps followed in 2013. Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe through the World's Greatest Song Contest was published in Spring 2017.

As a fiction writer he has published three novellas.

West is married with one daughter and lives in North Hertfordshire.

Books
  • Journey to the Middle Kingdom, Simon & Schuster 1991. Allison and Busby, 2000.
  • Death of a Blue Lantern, Collins Crime 1994, Allison and Busby 1999 and 2008.
  • Death on Black Dragon River, Collins Crime 1995
  • Red Mandarin, Collins Crime 1997
  • The Third Messiah Allison and Busby 2000
  • The Beermat Entrepreneur: Turn a Good Idea into a Great Business, Mike Southon and Chris West. Prentice Hall, 2002. (Reissued several times.)[4]
  • Myths about Doing Business in China, Harold Chee and Chris West, Palgrave, 2004
  • The Boardroom Entrepreneur, Mike Southon and Chris West. Random House Business Books, 2005.[5]
  • Sales on a Beermat, Mike Southon and Chris West. Random House Business Books, 2005.[5]
  • Finance on a Beermat, Stephen King, Jeff Macklin and Chris West. Random House Business Books, 2006.[5]
  • Marketing on a Beermat, Random House 2008
  • Perfect Written English, Random House 2008
  • Think like an Entrepreneur, Robbie Steinhouse and Chris West, Prentice Hall, 2008.
  • First Class, A History of Britain in 36 Postage Stamps, Square Peg, 2012
  • A History of America in Thirty-six Postage Stamps, Picador, 2014
  • The Hillwalker, CWTK, 2016
  • The Hillwalker 2, CWTK 2016
  • Enlightenment, CWTK, 2016
  • Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe through the World's Greatest Song Contest, Melville House, 2017

References
  1. Sydney Hazelton, Review: The Beermat Entrepreneur by Mike Southon and Chris West, ReviewStream.com.
  2. Mike Southon — Life Story Archived May 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Beermat.biz.
  3. "The Oxcentrics". Internet Archive. 27 June 2006. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  4. Chris West: Bibliography, Amazon.com.
  5. Author details for Mike Southon & Chris West, Random House.
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