Mickey Mayhew | Autistic Author & Historian
Mickey Mayhew is a disabled author and historian from London, working mainly on Mary Queen of Scots, Anne Boleyn, and the Romanovs; his PhD covered the contentious online ‘cults’ surrounding both Mary and Anne. He wrote ‘The Little Book of Mary Queen of Scots’ (The History Press) in 2014 and then ‘I love the Tudors’ (Pitkin Publishing) in 2016. ‘House of Tudor – A Grisly History’ and ‘Imprisoning Mary Queen of Scots – The Men Who Kept the Stuart Queen’ were released by Pen & Sword Books in 2022. ‘Rasputin and his Russian Queen – The True Story of Grigory and Alexandra’ was released in March 2023, with the highly controversial ‘The Anne Boleyn Bible’ following in November, both also from Pen & Sword Books.
Previously to this, he co-authored three books relating to Jack the Ripper for the Whitechapel Society (again, The History Press), whilst fictional work included the urban fantasy trilogy ‘The Barrow Boys of Barking’, beginning with ‘Jack and the Lad’ and concluding with ‘Jamie’s Big Bang’. His tongue-in-cheek memoir ‘Mickeypedia’ is still available, with proceeds going to the Anna Kennedy Online autism charity. In August 2025, the first volume of the ‘Dear Boss’ trilogy was published, a fictional take on the aforementioned Jack the Ripper murders, but with a decidedly modern twist. Also released in 2025 was ‘The Romanovs Under House Arrest: The Russian Revolution and A Royal Family’s Imprisonment in their Palace’, again from Pen & Sword Books.
Currently – and with the help of several academics and film directors – Mickey is working on what might be considered the definitive biography of American serial killer Ed Gein, as well as researching a new project concerning the six wives of Henry VIII.
Education
Because of his autism, Mickey was permanently excluded from school around the age of twelve; the next four years were spent suffering under the horrors of a 1980s home tutor, as well as being bussed out to several ‘special schools.’ However, he now has an undergraduate degree in sociology, an MA in gender, sexuality and culture, as well as an MA in creative writing, and finally an MSc in sociology. Oh, and a PhD concerning online Tudor subcultures; not bad for someone whose formal education ended before they even entered their teens.
From May to December 2019, he held the post of research assistant at London South Bank University, working as part of a project team undertaking research into adults living with autism and the support – or lack thereof – that they receive. Currently, he is on the steering group of this committee.
Prior to this, Mickey worked as a research assistant at the same university (from May to August 2018). His responsibilities were researching and compiling an annotated biography of Dr Shaminder Takhar, with a view to producing a text around the current transgender and radical feminist debate.
Interests
When not writing, Mickey enjoys a diverse range of hobbies and interests, including traveling, true crime, Russian royal history (the Romanovs, really) and animal welfare. He likes to read, particularly the books of Alan Hollinghurst, Sarah Waters and Anne Rice, as well as Marvel and DC Comics, and loves watching the old 1930s – 50s Universal horrors. Mickey is on the committee of the Whitechapel Society 1888 and the Mary Queen of Scots Society, as well as various university alumni groups.
Mickey has currently just completed a fictional trilogy about the notorious East End murderer Jack the Ripper and is busy finishing up a work of non-fiction about the US serial killer Ed Gein, with a research visit planned to Wisconsin in the near future.
