The English Spy

About Daniel Silva

Daniel Silva is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Moscow Rules and ten other novels. Best known for his spy thrillers starring art restorer and sometime assassin Gabriel Allon, Silva's books are international bestsellers that are published in more than 25 different languages.

Silva began his career in journalism working for United Press International where he worked as Chief Middle East Correspondent based in Cairo. He traveled extensively in the region and covered the Iran-Iraq war, terrorism and political conflicts. On assignment in the Persian Gulf, he met his wife, Jamie Gangel, National Correspondent for NBC's Today Show. The two were married in 1988, and Silva returned to Washington and went to work for CNN as executive producer of its Washington-based public affairs programming, including such popular broadcasts as Crossfire, The Capital Gang, Late Edition, Evans & Novak and Inside Politics Weekend.

In 1994, Silva began work on The Unlikely Spy, his first novel, which went on to be a surprise bestseller and gain critical acclaim. Since then, he has written The Mark of the Assassin (1998), The Marching Season (1999), The Kill Artist (2000), The English Assassin (2002), The Confessor (2003), Death in Vienna (2004) and Prince of Fire (2005), The Messenger (2006), The Secret Servant (2007), Moscow Rules (2008), and The Defector (2009).

Silva and his wife live in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC with their twins Lily and Nicholas.