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John Kiszely

John Kiszely

John talks history, interests and inspiration.

John Kiszely, what first attracted you to the period or periods you work in? From early childhood I`ve been an avid reader of history. Indeed, for most of my schooldays, when asked what I wanted for Christmas or birthday my answer was always `a history book, please`....

John Kiszely

John Kiszely

John Kiszely was commissioned into the Scots Guards from Sandhurst and served in the British army for forty years.  His operational service included Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, Bosnia and Iraq (as deputy coalition commander). He served three tours of duty in the Ministry of Defence, latterly as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff. His final appointment was Director General of the UK Defence Academy. He has been a visiting professor in war studies at Kings College London and a visiting research fellow at the Changing Character of War Centre at the University of Oxford. He has published widely in contributions to books and journals on strategy and approaches to warfare. For his first book, Anatomy of a Campaign. The British Fiasco in Norway 1940, he was awarded the Royal United Service Institute`s 2018 Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History.
John Kiszely

Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on Amazon Interviews[dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" multiple_cpt="author_interviews" use_taxonomy_terms="on" multiple_taxonomies="name_of_author" include_terms="709"...

FDR & Stalin: The Strategists

FDR & Stalin: The Strategists

A new book on the Second World War has re-appraised the allied leaders as strategists. Its author here examines President Franklin Roosevelt and Premier Josef Stalin.
Phillips Payson O’Brien

FDR & Stalin: The Strategists Stalin as the Worst Strategist Why I argue Stalin is both the Worst and Best war leader is because you need to start with the worst before you get to the best. Stalin, in opting to ally with Hitler in 1939 and sign the Nazi-Soviet...

AoH Book Club: Helen Fry on Women in Intelligence

AoH Book Club: Helen Fry on Women in Intelligence

The female role in the Security Services received an exhaustive analysis in Helen Fry’s 2023 book. She discussed our Book Club title recently.

Helen, Women in Intelligence was very well received when first published. Is this an area of espionage history that is under-developed? Most definitely. It is an area where historians still need to research deeply in declassified files and record what the women did in...

The Last Days of Budapest, by Adam LeBor

The Last Days of Budapest, by Adam LeBor

This is an immaculately researched book, written in a fluent and engaging style.

Eighty years on from the end of the Second World War our understanding of it ought to be sophisticated enough by now to appreciate that all was not necessarily as it seemed. As tempting as it is, one should avoid viewing the events in Europe in 1939-1945 in simplistic...

Mayne the SAS & the VC That Never Was

Mayne the SAS & the VC That Never Was

Damien Lewis’ latest book delves into the actions of the SAS in France and Paddy Mayne’s bravery.

Mayne the SAS & the VC Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne and a core of stalwarts were unwilling to let the history of this proud unit die with its dissolution. Instead, they took the Chronik of Schneeren town, unscrewed the brass bolts that held its spine together, removed the...

Military Maverick – Selected Letters and War Diary Of ‘Chink’ Dorman Smith, by Lavinia Greacen

Military Maverick – Selected Letters and War Diary Of ‘Chink’ Dorman Smith, by Lavinia Greacen

This book is a fascinating insight into the mind of a far thinking officer with, in many respects, a brilliant mind.

Military Maverick – Selected Letters and War Diary Of ‘Chink’ Dorman Smith, by Lavinia Greacen As the only candidate, before or since, ever to have achieved 100% in the tactics paper in the entrance examination for the army Staff College Eric Dorman-Smith ought...

Phil Craig

Phil Craig

Phil Craig is a best selling author and multiple-award-winning film-maker, producer and TV network executive.A former RAF cadet pilot, Phil studied history at Cambridge University, was a BBC graduate trainee and built his career working for iconic British current affairs series World in Action and Panorama, where he became senior producer.  Later he became joint head of programmes at the prestigious Brook Lapping production company, where he made a range of contemporary and historical films for the BBC, Channel Four, PBS in America, Discovery, Nat Geo and numerous other international clients. He went on to run departments at the Discovery Channel and at ABC Television in Australia, where he supervised the entire factual output of the national broadcaster including its high profile ANZAC centenary project in 2015.
Phil Craig

Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on Amazon Articles Click on the links below to read the full article [dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" multiple_cpt="post,short_stories" use_taxonomy_terms="on"...

Phil Craig

Phil Craig

The bestselling historian discusses his history, influences and his latest book.

What first attracted you to the period or periods you work in? I was a 60s child and brought up on Airfix models, the Air Training Corps and Victor comics, so the Second World War obsessed me, especially the Battle of Britain. When I was about 40 the BBC asked me to...

The Battle for Aachen

The Battle for Aachen

The battle of Aachen was one of the hardest fought of the war, and destroyed much of the city, though thankfully not the cathedral.

Writing the history of one’s hometown is no small feat, even after living and studying its history for 25 years. Aachen became my home in October 1999, when I was invited to teach at RWTH-Aachen University during my PhD studies. The university was already an esteemed...