Antony Beevor

Sir Antony James Beevor, Template:Post-nominals (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War.

Educated at Abberley Hall School, Winchester College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Beevor commanded a troop of tanks in the 11th Hussars in Germany before deciding in 1970 to leave the army and become a writer.

He became a visiting professor at Birkbeck, University of London, and the University of Kent.

His best-selling books, Stalingrad (1998) and Berlin: The Downfall 1945 (2002), have been acclaimed for their detailed coverage of the battles between the Soviet Union and Germany, and their focus on the experiences of ordinary people. Berlin proved very controversial in Russia because of the information it contained from former Soviet archives about the mass rapes carried out by the Red Army in 1945.

Beevor's works have been translated into many languages and have sold millions of copies. He has lectured at numerous military headquarters, staff colleges and establishments in Britain, the US, Europe, and Australia. He has also written for many major newspapers.

Early life and education

Antony James Beevor<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was born in London on 14 December 1946.<ref name=encyc>Template:Cite web</ref>

He was educated at two independent schools: Abberley Hall School in Worcestershire, and then Winchester College in Hampshire.

He then joined the UK Army as a cadet at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. As well as the usual cadet activities, he was able to study under the military historian John Keegan. On graduation he was commissioned in the 11th Hussars on 28 July 1967.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

Beevor served in England and Germany. He was promoted to lieutenant on 28 January 1969. He resigned his commission on 5 August 1970.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

Later career

Beevor has been a visiting professor at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck, University of London, and at the University of Kent.<ref name=bio>Template:Cite web</ref> He was the 2002-2003 Lees-Knowles Lecturer at Cambridge University.

His best-known works, the best-selling Stalingrad (1998) and Berlin: The Downfall 1945 (2002), recount the World War II battles between the Soviet Union and Germany. They have been praised for their vivid, compelling style, their treatment of the ordinary lives of combatants and civilians, and the use of newly disclosed documents from Soviet archives.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Berlin proved hugely controversial in Russia because of the information it contained from former Soviet archives about the mass rapes carried out by the Red Army in 1945. He was criticized for "lies, slander and blasphemy" against the Red Army by the Russian ambassador at the time, Grigory Karasin,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was frequently described as "the chief slanderer of the Red Army"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> by Kremlin-supporting media. Numerous Russian academic theses and books have been published that dispute his claim as exaggerations, misattributions, or direct citations of propaganda used by Goebbels, including The Red Army “Rape of Germany” was Invented by Goebbels by the Russian author Anatoly Karlin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

His The Spanish Civil War (1982) was later re-written as The Battle for Spain (2006), keeping the structure and some content from the earlier work, but using the updated narrative style of his Stalingrad book and also adding characters and new archival research from German and Russian sources.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Beevor's book The Second World War (2012) is notable for its focus on the conditions and grief faced by women and civilians and for its coverage of the war in East Asia, which has been called "masterful".<ref name="Kirkus WWII">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Toye>Template:Cite news</ref> Beevor's expertise has been the subject of some commentary; his publications have been praised as revitalizing interest in World War II topics<ref name=Temple>Template:Cite news</ref> and have allowed readers to reevaluate events such as Template:Nowrap from a new perspective.<ref name=Praise>Template:Cite news</ref> He has also appeared as an expert in television documentaries related to World War II.<ref name=Summers>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=TVWar>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:As of, his works had been translated into 35 languages, with more than 8.5 million copies sold.<ref name="I deserved...">Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2015, Russia's Yekaterinburg region considered banning Beevor's books, accusing him of Nazi sympathies, citing his lack of Russian sources when writing about Russia, and claiming he had promoted false stereotypes introduced by Nazi Germany during World War II.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Walker, Shaun. 2015. Russian Region Bans British Historians' Books from Schools. The Guardian (5 August).</ref><ref>Spiro, Zachary. 2015. Russia Bans Books on Nazi Defeat by British Historians. The Times (6 August).</ref> Beevor responded by calling the banning "a government trying to impose its own version of history", comparing it to other "attempts to dictate a truth", such as denial of the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In January 2018, Beevor's book about the Battle of Stalingrad was banned in Ukraine for its description of war crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists collaborating with Nazi forces (namely the execution of children), with the official in charge of the ban, Serhiy Oliyinyk, denying the event in question and calling it a "provocation" likely emanating from Soviet sources. Beevor refuted the claims of an alleged anti-Ukrainian bent in the book, and pointed out that the source for the passage in question was Abwehr officer Helmuth Groscurth, demanding "an immediate apology from Oliyinyk and a reversal of the decision by the 'expert council.'"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He has also written for The Times, The Telegraph and Guardian, the New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro, as well as El País and ABC in Spain.Template:Cn

Other activities

Beevor, a former chair and member of the Council of the Society of Authors,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> resigned with Philip Pullman in 2022 in protest over the actions of the CEO and the leadership of the management committee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Beevor is descended from a long line of writers, starting with the legal philosopher John Austin and his wife Sarah, their daughter Lucie, Lady Duff-Gordon (Letters from Egypt), his grandmother Lina Waterfield, (Observer correspondent and Castle in Italy), and his mother Kinta Beevor (A Tuscan Childhood).

Template:As of he is married to biographer Artemis Cooper. They have two children, Nella and Adam.<ref name=PMML>Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours and awards

Beevor was recognised with the 2014 Pritzker Military Museum & Library's Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tim O'Brien, the 2013 recipient, made the announcement on behalf of the selection committee.<ref name="PMML" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The award carried a purse of US$100,000.<ref name="Carpenter">Template:Cite web</ref>

Beevor was awarded an Honorary D.Litt. from the University of Kent in 2004,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> from the University of Bath in 2010,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the University of East Anglia in 2014,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the University of York in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He was elected an honorary Fellow of King's College London in July 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Also in July 2016, Beevor was awarded the Medlicott Medal for services to history by the UK-based Historical Association.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Beevor was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2017 New Year Honours for "services in support of Armed Forces Professional Development".<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

He is also a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres,<ref name="bath">Honorary Graduates Template:Webarchive. University of Bath, 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2012.</ref> a member of Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown.<ref name=bio/>

Awards for his works include:

• Crete: The Battle and the Resistance
  • Runciman Prize, administered by the Anglo-Hellenic League for stimulating interest in Greek history and culture<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Stalingrad
  • The first Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction<ref name="H is for Hawk">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Wolfson History Prize<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Hawthornden Prize for Literature<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Berlin: The Downfall 1945
  • Longman-History Today Trustees' AwardTemplate:Cn
• The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 (Spanish Edition)
  • La Vanguardia Prize for Non-FictionTemplate:Cn

Published works

Fiction

• Violent Brink. London: John Murray, 1975. Template:ISBN
• For Reasons of State. London: Jonathan Cape, 1980. Template:ISBN
• The Faustian Pact. London: Jonathan Cape, 1983. Template:ISBN
• The Enchantment of Christina von Retzen. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989. Template:ISBN

Nonfiction

• The Spanish Civil War. London: Orbis, 1982. Template:ISBN
• Inside the British Army. London: Chatto and Windus, 1990. Template:ISBN
• Crete 1941: The Battle and the Resistance. London: John Murray, 1991. Template:ISBN
• with Artemis Cooper. Paris After the Liberation, 1944–1949. London: Penguin, 1994.
• Stalingrad. London: Viking Press, 1998. Template:ISBN
• Berlin: The Downfall 1945. London: Penguin, 2002. Template:ISBN (Published as The Fall of Berlin 1945 in the U.S.)
• The Mystery of Olga Chekhova. London: Penguin, 2004. Template:ISBN
• The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006. Template:ISBN
• D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. London: Penguin, 2009. Template:ISBN
• The Second World War. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2012. Template:ISBN
• Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble. Viking, 2015. Template:ISBN
• Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944. Viking, 2018. Template:ISBN
• Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917—1921. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2022. Template:ISBN
• Rasputin: And the Downfall of the Romanovs. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2026. Template:ISBN<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Edited volumes

• A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 1941–1945 by Vasily Grossman. Template:ISBN

Book contributions

• The British Army, Manpower and Society into the Twenty-First Century, ed by Hew Strachan Template:ISBN
• What Ifs? of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been, by Robert Cowley (Editor), Antony Beevor and Caleb Carr. (2003) Template:ISBN

External links

• Template:Official website
• Antony Beevor Stalingrad Berlin - The Downfall 1945
• Antony Beevor discusses his book on the Spanish Civil War
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• Template:C-SPAN
• Interview on The Second World War at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on 21 June 2012
• Sir Antony Beevor on Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 19 February 2017