Antony Beevor
Samuel Johnson Prize | |
---|---|
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | John Julius Norwich (father-in-law) |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1966–1970 |
Rank | Lieutenant |
Service number | 483855 |
Unit | 11th Hussars |
Website | |
www |
Sir Antony James Beevor, .
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 was 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 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 condemned for "lies, slander and blasphemy" against the Red Army by the Russian ambassador at the time, Grigory Karasin,[1] and was frequently described as "the chief slanderer of the Red Army" by Kremlin-supporting media.
His works have been translated into 35 languages and have sold over 8.5 million copies. Beevor has lectured at numerous military headquarters, staff colleges and establishments in Britain, the US, Europe and Australia. He has also written for
Early life
Born in
Career
Beevor has been a visiting professor at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at
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.[7][8][9]
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.[10]
Beevor's book
Overall, his works have been translated into 35 languages with more than 8.5 million copies sold.[17]
In August 2015, Russia's
In January 2018, Beevor's book about the Battle of Stalingrad was attacked in Ukraine because of a single mistranslation in the Russian edition. Beevor told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: "I must say, this sounds absolutely astonishing. There's certainly nothing inherently anti-Ukrainian in the book at all."[21]
Personal life
Beevor is descended from a long line of writers, starting with the legal
Honours
Beevor was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2017 New Year Honours for "services in support of Armed Forces Professional Development".[23]
He is a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres,[24] a member of Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana[25] and a commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown.[6]
Beevor was awarded an Honorary D.Litt. from the
Beevor, a former chair and member of the Council of the Society of Authors,[31] resigned with Sir Philip Pullman in 2022[32] in protest over the actions of the CEO and the leadership of the management committee.
Awards
- Crete: The Battle and the Resistance won the Greek history and culture.[33]
- Stalingrad
- The first Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction[34]
- Wolfson History Prize[35]
- Hawthornden Prize for Literature[36]
- The first
- Berlin: The Downfall 1945
- Longman-History Today Trustees' Award
- The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939(Spanish Edition)
- La Vanguardia Prize for Non-Fiction
Beevor was recognised with the 2014 Pritzker Military Museum & Library's Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.[37] Tim O'Brien, the 2013 recipient, made the announcement on behalf of the selection committee.[22][38][39] The award carried a purse of US$100,000.[40]
In July 2016, Beevor was awarded the Medlicott Medal for services to history by the UK-based Historical Association.[41]
Published works
Fiction
- Violent Brink. London: ISBN 978-0-7195-3241-2
- For Reasons of State. London: ISBN 978-0-224-01930-9
- The Faustian Pact. London: Jonathan Cape, 1983. ISBN 978-0-02-030461-6
- The Enchantment of Christina von Retzen. London: ISBN 978-0-297-79523-0
Nonfiction
- The Spanish Civil War. London: ISBN 978-0-14-100148-7
- Inside the British Army. London: ISBN 978-0-552-13818-5
- Crete: The Battle and the Resistance. London: John Murray, 1991. ISBN 978-0-14-016787-0
- with Artemis Cooper. Paris After the Liberation, 1944–1949. London: Penguin, 1994.
- ISBN 978-0-670-87095-0
- ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5(Published as The Fall of Berlin 1945 in the U.S.)
- The Mystery of Olga Chekhova. London: Penguin, 2004. ISBN 978-0-670-03340-9
- ISBN 978-0-14-303765-1
- D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. London: Penguin, 2009. ISBN 978-0-670-02119-2
- ISBN 978-0-316-02374-0
- Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble. Viking, 2015. ISBN 978-0-670-91864-5
- Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944. Viking, 2018. ISBN 978-0-241-32676-3
- ISBN 978-1-474-61014-8
Edited volumes
- A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 1941–1945 by ISBN 978-0-375-42407-6
Book contributions
- The British Army, Manpower and Society into the Twenty-First Century, ed by ISBN 978-0-7146-8069-9
- ISBN 978-0-425-19818-6
References
- ^ "Russians angry at war rape claims". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "No. 44435". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 October 1967. p. 11533.
- ^ "No. 44774". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 January 1969. p. 995.
- ^ "No. 45168". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 August 1970. p. 8855.
- ^ a b "Biography". antonybeevor.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ "Entombed in their own bunkers". The Telegraph. London. 25 April 1998. Archived from the original on 27 March 2007.
- ^ Judd, Alan (28 April 2002). "Every sort of assault: review of Berlin: the Downfall, 1945 by Antony Beevor". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 30 March 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
- ^ Bernstein, Richard (26 September 1998). "An Avalanche of Death That Redirected a War". The New York Times. New York City, United States. p. E-8. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
- ISSN 0261-3077.
- ^ "The Second World War". Kirkus Review. Kirkus. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ Toye, Richard (7 September 2012). "Many Wars in One". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ Temple, Peter (21 July 2012). "Beevor unleashes a blitzkrieg". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ "In praise of ... Antony Beevor". The Guardian. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ Summers, Chris. "Red Army rapists exposed". BBC News. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ "When TV Goes to War". BBC Four. BBC. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ Farndale, Nigel (19 October 2014). "Antony Beevor: 'I deserved to fail history. I was bolshie...'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ Ignacio Villarreal. "Russia orders libraries to ditch 'Nazi' books by British historians".
- ^ Walker, Shaun. 2015. Russian Region Bans British Historians' Books from Schools. The Guardian (5 August).
- ^ Spiro, Zachary. 2015. Russia Bans Books on Nazi Defeat by British Historians. The Times (6 August).
- ^ O'Connor, Coilin; Heil, Andy (17 January 2018). "Historian Beevor 'Astonished' At Ukraine Ban on Best-Selling 'Stalingrad'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Antony Beevor: 2014 Pritzker Literature Award Winner | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago". Pritzkermilitary.org. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N2.
- ^ Honorary Graduates Archived 29 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine. University of Bath, 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
- ^ "president.ee". president.ee. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Honorary graduate archive". Congregations - University of Kent. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Honorary graduates, 2010 to 2019". bath.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Honorary Graduates - About". uea.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ "University of York honours 11 for their contribution to society". University of York. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "New fellows of King's College London | Website archive | King's College London". kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Fellows - The Society of Authors". 8 May 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "AGM 2022 — Resolutions and next steps - The Society of Authors". 17 November 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ Antony Beevor (24 April 2014). "Antony Beevor - Penguin Books USA". Penguin.com. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Clark, Nick (4 November 2014). "Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction: Helen Macdonald wins with 'H is for Hawk'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ "All winners of the Wolfson History Prize". The Wolfson History Prize. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Hawthornden Prize". Hawthornden Foundation. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Antony Beevor | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago". pritzkermilitary.org. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Pritzker Military Museum & Library Announces 2014 Literature Award Winner - BWWBooksWorld". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "British military historian wins $100,000 prize". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ Carpenter, Caroline (26 June 2014). "Beevor wins $100,000 Pritzker Military Prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ISSN 0265-1076.
External links
- Official website
- Antony Beevor Stalingrad Berlin - The Downfall 1945
- Antony Beevor discusses his book on the Spanish Civil War
- Antony Beevor at IMDb
- Appearances on 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