Allan Massie

Early life Massie was born on 16 October 1938,

Career Journalist Massie was a journalist and critic of fiction, writing regular columns for The Scotsman, The Sunday Times (Scotland) and the Scottish Daily Mail. He was The Scotsman's chief fiction reviewer for a quarter of a century and also regularly wrote about rugby union and cricket for that paper. He retired from the newspaper in 2026. He was also a columnist for The Daily Telegraph, the Glasgow Herald, and was the Sunday Standard's television critic during that paper's brief existence. He was also a contributor to The Spectator—where he wrote an occasional column, Life and Letters—the Literary Review, The Independent, and the Catholic Herald. He also wrote for the New York Review of Books.

His conservative political outlook is apparent, despite the then decline of Conservative influence in Scotland. He was a leading, if lonely, campaigner against Scottish devolution, and a critic of much of the legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament since its establishment in 1999. Though initially in favour of greater devolutionary powers for Scotland, his views on devolution changed during the Thatcher years and he came to regret his support for the 1979 devolution referendum.

In his literary reviews, his preferences laid towards traditional novels rather than the avant-garde. He was a great admirer of Sir Walter Scott (and a past president of the Sir Walter Scott Club). Among contemporary novelists, he was a champion of the Russian writer Andreï Makine and Scotland's William McIlvanney. Though he criticised Irvine Welsh and James Kelman, he admired some of the latter's work, arguing that Kelman is an important voice for a section of society often ignored in literary fiction.

Novelist Massie was the author of over 40 books, including more than 25 novels. He is notable for writing about the distant past, and the middle class, rather than grittier elements of the present. The most successful of his novels, at least in terms of sales, have been a series of reconstructed autobiographies or biographies of Roman political figures, including Augustus, Tiberius, Mark Antony, Caesar, Caligula and Nero's heirs. Gore Vidal called him a "master of the long-ago historical novel." His last book is The Thistle and the Rose, a series of essays on the often thorny relationship between Scotland and England, in which he takes a strong Unionist viewpoint.

His 1989 novel about Vichy France, A Question of Loyalties, won the Saltire Society's Scottish Book of the Year award,

All-time Scotland XV Massie was a keen rugby fan and writer, and came up with an all-time XV in 1984. Firstly, he excluded any players from before 1951, as he said it is unfair to judge the abilities of players without having been able to see them for himself, and secondly, his list, being published in the mid 80s excludes most of the people involved in the 1990 Grand Slam: Backline: Andy Irvine, Arthur Smith, Jim Renwick, Ken Scotland, Roger Baird; Half backs John Rutherford, Roy Laidlaw; Forwards: Hugh McLeod, Colin Deans, Sandy Carmichael, Gordon Brown, Alastair McHarg, Douglas Elliot, Jim Telfer (captain), David Leslie

He also supplied a list of reserves: Jock Turner, David Chisholm, Alex Hastie, David Rollo, Norman Bruce, Iain Paxton

Players that Massie included in his early selection, but not in the final team include: Ian Laughland, Chris Rea, Ian McGeechan, Robertson, David Johnston; Aitken, Milne, Bruce, Laidlaw, Mike Campbell-Lamerton, Peter Brown, Tomes, Cuthbertson, Jim Greenwood, Ron Glasgow, Derrick Grant, Rodger Arneil, Jim Calder.

Personal life and death Massie married Alison Langlands in 1973; she died in 2022. They had three children, including journalist Alex Massie. Massie later lived in Selkirk, Scottish Borders.

On 19 January 2026, Massie retired from reviewing books for The Scotsman, announcing that he had cancer.

Awards Massie received the following awards: Scottish Arts Council Book Award for The Death of Men (1982) Frederick Niven Literary Award for The Last Peacock (1980)