CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

David Baldacci

American author

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ495420 ↗
Source-derived summary

David Baldacci (born August 5, 1960) is an American novelist. An attorney by education, Baldacci writes mainly suspense novels and legal thrillers. His novels are published in over 45 languages and published in over 80 countries, having sold over 130 million copies worldwide.

Early life and education

David Baldacci was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. He is of Italian descent. He graduated from Henrico High School and earned a B.A. in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, after which he practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C.

Career

Baldacci began writing stories as a child when his mother gave him a notebook in which to record them. He wrote for more than two decades, penning short stories and later screenplays, without much success.

While practicing law, he turned to novel writing, taking three years to write Absolute Power. Published in 1996, it was an international best-seller. To date, Baldacci has published 50 novels for adults as well as seven novels for younger readers.

Editorial summary

“David Baldacci” enters the record as american author. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what David, Baldacci and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1960, 1996—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1960-08-05. Its strongest next move is a source search built around David, Baldacci and American.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“David Baldacci” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, David, Baldacci and American provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q495420. VIAF identifies the subject as 102339955. The Library of Congress control number is n95052956. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1960 and 1996.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “David Baldacci”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow David Baldacci primary sources, David Baldacci archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Baldacci”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “David Baldacci” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.