Louis H P de Bernières-Smart was born near Woolwich and grew up in Surrey, the first part of his surname being inherited from a French Huguenot forefather. He was educated at Bradfield College and joined the army when he was 18, but left after four months of service at Sandhurst. He attended the Victoria University of Manchester and the Institute of Education, University of London. Before he began to write full-time he held a wide variety of jobs, including being a mechanic, a motorcycle messenger and an English teacher in Colombia. He now lives near Bungay in Suffolk with his partner, Cathy and two children, Robin and Sophie.

Latin American trilogy

It was his experiences in Colombia (as well as the influence of writer Gabriel García Márquez, describing himself as a 'Márquez parasite') that, he says, profoundly influenced his first three novels, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts (1990), Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (1991) and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman (1992).

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

De Bernières' most famous book is his fourth, Captain Corelli's Mandolin (also published under the alternative title Corelli's Mandolin for the US market only) in which the eponymous hero is an Italian soldier who is part of the occupying force on a Greek island during the Second World War.

In 2001, the book was turned into a film, titled Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

De Bernières strongly disapproved of the film version, commenting, "It would be impossible for a parent to be happy about its baby's ears being put on backwards." He does however state that it has redeeming qualities, and particularly likes the soundtrack.

Since the release of the book and the movie Cephalonia, the island on which the book is set, has become a major tourist destination; and as a result the tourist industry on the island has begun to capitalise on the book's name. Of this, de Bernières said: "I was very displeased to see that a bar in Agia Efimia has abandoned its perfectly good Greek name and renamed itself Captain Corelli's, and I dread the idea that sooner or later there might be Captain Corelli Tours, or Pelagia Apartments."

Red Dog

His book Red Dog (2002) was inspired by a statue of a dog he saw during a visit to the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Birds Without Wings

Birds Without Wings (2004) is set in Turkey, and portrays the people in a small village toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of Kemal Atatürk, and the outbreak of the First World War.

A Partisan's Daughter

A Partisan's Daughter (2008) tells of the relationship between a young Yugoslavian woman and a middle-aged British man in the 1970s, set in London.

Notwithstanding

Notwithstanding (2009) is a collection of short stories revolving around a fictional English village, Notwithstanding, and its eccentric inhabitants. Many of the stories were published separately earlier in De Bernières' career. Notwithstanding is based on the village where Louis de Bernieres grew up, Wormley, Surrey and muses whether this is, or is no longer, the rural idyll. Some of the stories are autobiographical such as 'Silly Bugger 1' about a boy who brings up an abandoned rook, which becomes his companion, the rook sitting on his shoulder as he goes about his life - de Bernieres is pictured on his website with a rook sitting on his shoulder. Notwithstanding is rich in local detail containing references to the nearby villages and towns of Godalming, Chiddingfold, Hambledon and Haslemere, including references to Waitrose, Scats, the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, the Merry Harriers pub and the 'suicidal driving' of the nuns at St Dominic's School. De Bernieres reflects in the Afterword:

"I realised that I had set so many of my novels and stories abroad, because custom had prevented me from seeing how exotic my own country is. Britain really is an immense lunatic asylum. That is one of the things that distinguishes us among the nations...We are rigid and formal in some ways, but we believe in the right to eccentricity, as long as the eccentricities are large enough...Woe betide you if you hold your knife incorrectly, but good luck to you if you wear a loincloth and live up a tree."

Novels

• The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts (1990)
• Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (1991)
• The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman (1992)
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin (1993)
• Red Dog (2002)
• Birds Without Wings (2004)
• A Partisan's Daughter (2008)
• Notwithstanding: Stories from an English Village (2009)

Short Fiction

• Labels (1993)
• Stupid Gringo (1997)
• Our Lady of Beauty (1998)
• A Day out for Mehmet Erbil (1999)
• Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World (2001)
• Gunter Weber's Confession (2001)

Non Fiction

• The Book of Job: An Introduction (1998)