Brian Fothergill was awarded the W.H. Heinemann Award in 1969 for Sir William Hamilton; Envoy Extraordinary, an award presented by The Royal Society of Literature for a non-fiction work of outstanding literary distinction. The Royal Society presented Fothergill with this same award again in 1979, for his historical biography of William Beckford, Beckford of Fonthill. Other works by the author include Nicholas Weisman, The Cardinal King, and Mrs Jordan: Portrait of an Actress.