Paul Harris

Who is Paul Harris?

Paul Harris is an author and publisher, based in Scotland. His first work was When Pirates Ruled the Waves, which ran to four editions within a short space of time between 1968 and 1970. This was published by his own company, Impulse Books in Aberdeen.

His second book, To be a Pirate King, extended the story into 1971 and caused a sensation in the Netherlands, where it was published by De Telegraaf. It led directly to him working for the British intelligence service, MI6, and a long time involvement in analysis of Libya and, later, the Lockerbie disaster.

Following these, he branched out in the topics covered, including the oil industry, murder, and Scottish Art. As of 2012, he was the author of 42 published books.

A third offshore radio book appeared consolidating and updating the previous books, entitled Broadcasting from the High Seas.

He was a founder member of the Scottish General Publishers' Association. The first meeting of what was to become what is now Publishing Scotland, took place in a late afternoon in 1973 in the offices of Canongate in Jeffrey Street.

He has an Honours degree in Politics and International Relations. After fifteen years in publishing, he became a publishing consultant. As a result, he found himself trapped in Yugoslavia as war broke out there on 26 June 1991. His Airbus was bombed in the attack on Ljubljana airport and he then stayed on to report from the front line; from children's hospitals; from refugee columns under fire; and, even, from the mortuaries in Christmas week. This also resulted in his book Somebody Else's War, published in 1992.