Peter George Robin Fry was born in 1931, and was the third child and only son of a distinguished naval officer and pianist. He was educated at Lancing College in West Sussex, and St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School, London, but did not do well at either institution. After failing his exams, he had to leave St. Thomas's after a year. From this point on his father refused to subsidise him any more, so Fry found employment as a librarian and projectionist with the National Film Board of Canada. In 1952 he inherited some money from his grandmother, left his job and married Audrey Russell, whom he had known at medical school, against his parents' wishes. After spending all his money, and failing another degree, Fry became a schoolteacher in Weybridge, Surrey.

In 1954 Fry went to Oxford University to study law and history. Needing more money, he twice took part in the television game show Double Your Money, and won the jackpot of £512, making him somewhat of a celebrity, and had his first book, Mysteries of History, published, soon followed by a biography of Elizabeth I. This was the start of a successful writing career, and over the years he wrote numerous popular books about history for adults and for children, as well as books about antiques. He also started an organisation called the Council for Independent Archaeology.

Although Fry's professional life was successful, his personal life was unhappy. His first marriage to Audrey Russell was dissolved in 1957, and the following year he married Daphne York. Unfortunately she was soon diagnosed with an incurable form of kidney cancer, although Fry never let her know it. After her death in 1961, he set up a medical research trust in her memory. He then married Leri Butler, a divorcée 24 years his senior. The marriage ended in divorce in 1973, and the following year he married Fiona Whitcombe, who survived him.

Fry was the victim of several car crashes, one of which confined him to a wheelchair for many years.

He did not use a literary agent, as he was often worried about his financial affairs.

In 1996, Fry was told he was dying of bowel cancer, but he refused treatment, and suffocated himself with a plastic bag at his home in Wattisfield, Suffolk at the age of 65, after writing a letter explaining his actions to the coroner.

• Kings and Queens of England and Scotland

• Castles: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland

• History of the World

• 1000 Great Lives

• The Zebra Book of Famous Women