Antony Beevor

{{Infobox writer

|honorific_prefix = Sir

|honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSL}}

|image = Antony Beevor 2022.jpg

|image_size =

|alt =

|caption = Beevor in 2022

|pronunciation =

|pseudonym =

|birth_name = Antony James Beevor

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1946|12|14}}

|birth_place = Kensington, London, England

|occupation = Author, historian

|language = English

|nationality =

|ethnicity =

|citizenship =

|education = Abberley Hall School
Winchester College

|alma_mater = Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

|period =

|genre =

|subject = Modern history

|movement =

|notableworks =

|spouse = {{marriage|Artemis Cooper|1986}}

|partner =

|children = 2

|relatives = John Julius Norwich (father-in-law)

|influences =

|influenced =

|awards = Samuel Johnson Prize

|signature =

|signature_alt =

|website = {{URL|http://www.antonybeevor.com}}

|module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes

|allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}

|branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}

|serviceyears = 1966–1970

|rank = Lieutenant

|servicenumber = 483855

|unit = 11th Hussars

}}

Sir Antony James Beevor, {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSL}} (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 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 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{{cite web | title=Antony Beevor | website=National Portrait Gallery | url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp141598/sir-antony-james-beevor | access-date=22 December 2024}} was born in London on 14 December 1946.{{cite web | title=Beevor, Antony 1946- | website=Encyclopedia.com | date=14 December 1946 | url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/beevor-antony-1946 | access-date=22 December 2024}}

He was educated at two independent schools: Abberley Hall School in Worcestershire, and then Winchester College in Hampshire. He then went to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he studied under the military historian John Keegan, before receiving a commission in the 11th Hussars on 28 July 1967.{{London Gazette |issue=44435 |date=20 October 1967 |page=11533 |supp=y}}

Beevor served in England and Germany and was promoted to lieutenant on 28 January 1969 before resigning his commission on 5 August 1970.{{London Gazette |issue=44774 |date=24 January 1969 |page=995 |supp=y}}{{London Gazette |issue=45168 |date=7 August 1970 |page=8855 |supp=y}}

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.{{cite web|title=Biography |publisher=antonybeevor.com |url=http://www.antonybeevor.com/biography/ |access-date=8 March 2017}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/1998/04/25/bosta25.xml |date=25 April 1998 |newspaper=The Telegraph|title=Entombed in their own bunkers |location=London |archive-date=27 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070327102810/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F1998%2F04%2F25%2Fbosta25.xml |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/04/28/bobee28.xml |date=28 April 2002 |newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=4 March 2009 |title=Every sort of assault: review of Berlin: the Downfall, 1945 by Antony Beevor |last=Judd |first=Alan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070330134916/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2002%2F04%2F28%2Fbobee28.xml |archive-date=30 March 2007 |location=London |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |page=E-8 |title=An Avalanche of Death That Redirected a War |first=Richard |last=Bernstein |date=26 September 1998 |access-date=4 March 2009 |location=New York City, United States |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E2DF143CF935A1575BC0A96E958260 |work=The New York Times}} 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 crticized for "lies, slander and blasphemy" against the Red Army by the Russian ambassador at the time, Grigory Karasin,{{Cite web |title=Russians angry at war rape claims |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1382682/Russians-angry-at-war-rape-claims.html |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=The Daily Telegraph|date=25 January 2002 |location=London}} and was frequently described as "the chief slanderer of the Red Army" by Kremlin-supporting media.{{cn|date=December 2024}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kp.ru/daily/26073/2979464/|title =Миф об "изнасилованной Германии" сочинил Геббельс|date =December 26, 2019}}

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.{{Cite news |last1=Brendon |first1=Piers |title=Review: The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor |work=The Guardian |date=2006-06-24 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/24/featuresreviews.guardianreview4 |issn=0261-3077 |df=mdy-all }}

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".{{cite web|title=The Second World War|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/antony-beevor/second-world-war-beevor/|website=Kirkus Review|publisher=Kirkus|access-date=26 June 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Toye|first1=Richard|author-link = Richard Toye|title=Many Wars in One|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/books/review/the-second-world-war-by-antony-beevor.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|access-date=26 June 2014|work=The New York Times|date=7 September 2012}} Beevor's expertise has been the subject of some commentary; his publications have been praised as revitalizing interest in World War II topics{{cite news|last1=Temple|first1=Peter|title=Beevor unleashes a blitzkrieg|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/beevor-unleashes-a-blitzkrieg-20120720-22eum.html|access-date=26 June 2014|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=21 July 2012}} and have allowed readers to reevaluate events such as {{Nowrap|D-Day}} from a new perspective.{{cite news|title=In praise of ... Antony Beevor|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/01/praise-antony-beevor-military-historian|access-date=26 June 2014|work=The Guardian|date=31 May 2009}} He has also appeared as an expert in television documentaries related to World War II.{{cite news|last1=Summers|first1=Chris|title=Red Army rapists exposed|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1939174.stm|publisher=BBC News|access-date=26 June 2014}}{{cite web|title=When TV Goes to War|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014v43c|website=BBC Four|publisher=BBC|access-date=26 June 2014}}

{{as of|2014}}, his works had been translated into 35 languages, with more than 8.5 million copies sold.{{cite web|last1=Farndale|first1=Nigel|title=Antony Beevor: 'I deserved to fail history. I was bolshie...'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11093344/Antony-Beevor-I-deserved-to-fail-history.-I-was-bolshie....html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019133716/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/11093344/Antony-Beevor-I-deserved-to-fail-history.-I-was-bolshie....html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 October 2014 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=19 October 2014 |access-date=10 November 2014}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://artdaily.com/news/80620/Russia-orders-libraries-to-ditch--Nazi--books-by-British-historians#.VcjbY7c1I7C|title=Russia orders libraries to ditch 'Nazi' books by British historians|author=Ignacio Villarreal}}[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/05/russian-region-bans-british-historians-books-from-schools Walker, Shaun. 2015. Russian Region Bans British Historians' Books from Schools. The Guardian (5 August).][https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/russia-bans-books-on-nazi-defeat-by-british-historians-km8nvrwwlbg Spiro, Zachary. 2015. Russia Bans Books on Nazi Defeat by British Historians. The Times (6 August).] 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.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

In January 2018, Beevor's book about the Battle of Stalingrad was criticised in Ukraine because of a single mistranslation in the Russian edition.{{cite news |last1=O'Connor |first1=Coilin |last2=Heil |first2=Andy |date=17 January 2018 |title=Historian Beevor 'Astonished' At Ukraine Ban on Best-Selling 'Stalingrad' |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/beevor-historian-ukraine-ban-stalingrad/28980932.html |access-date=16 May 2022}}

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.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Other activities

Beevor, a former chair and member of the Council of the Society of Authors,{{Cite web |date=2020-05-08 |title=Fellows - The Society of Authors |url=https://www2.societyofauthors.org/about-us/council/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |language=en-GB}} resigned with Philip Pullman in 2022 in protest over the actions of the CEO and the leadership of the management committee.{{Cite web |date=2022-11-17 |title=AGM 2022 — Resolutions and next steps |website= The Society of Authors |url=https://www2.societyofauthors.org/2022/11/17/agm-2022-resolutions-and-next-steps/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |language=en-GB}}

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).

{{as of|2014}} he is married to biographer Artemis Cooper; they have two children.{{cite web|url=http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/explore/pritzker-literature-award/antony-beevor-2014-pritzker-literature-award-winner/ |title=Antony Beevor: 2014 Pritzker Literature Award Winner | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago |publisher=Pritzkermilitary.org |access-date=2014-06-25}}

Honours and awards

Beevor was recognised with the 2014 Pritzker Military Museum & Library's Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.{{Cite web |title=Antony Beevor {{!}} Pritzker Military Museum & Library {{!}} Chicago |url=https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/explore/pritzker-literature-award/antony-beevor-2014-pritzker-literature-award-winner |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=pritzkermilitary.org}} Tim O'Brien, the 2013 recipient, made the announcement on behalf of the selection committee.{{cite web |title=Pritzker Military Museum & Library Announces 2014 Literature Award Winner - BWWBooksWorld |url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwbooks/article/Pritzker-Military-Museum-Library-Announces-2014-Literature-Award-Winner-20140624#.U6rWjPldWSo |access-date=2014-06-25 |publisher=Broadwayworld.com}}{{cite news |title=British military historian wins $100,000 prize |newspaper=Boston Herald |url=http://bostonherald.com/entertainment/books/2014/06/british_military_historian_wins_100000_prize |url-status=dead |access-date=2014-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705103905/http://bostonherald.com/entertainment/books/2014/06/british_military_historian_wins_100000_prize |archive-date=5 July 2014}} The award carried a purse of US$100,000.{{cite web |last=Carpenter |first=Caroline |date=2014-06-26 |title=Beevor wins $100,000 Pritzker Military Prize |url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/beevor-wins-100000-pritzker-military-prize.html |access-date=26 June 2014 |work=The Bookseller}}

Beevor was awarded an Honorary D.Litt. from the University of Kent in 2004,{{Cite web |date=2022-04-29 |title=Honorary graduate archive |url=https://www.kent.ac.uk/congregations/honorary-graduates/archive |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=Congregations - University of Kent |language=en-GB}} from the University of Bath in 2010,{{Cite web |title=Honorary graduates, 2010 to 2019 |url=https://www.bath.ac.uk/corporate-information/honorary-graduates-2010-to-2019/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=bath.ac.uk}} the University of East Anglia in 2014,{{Cite web |title=Honorary Graduates - About |url=https://www.uea.ac.uk/web/about/alumni-and-supporters/graduation/honorary-graduates/-/categories/5505405 |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=uea.ac.uk}} and the University of York in 2015.{{Cite web |title=University of York honours 11 for their contribution to society |url=https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2015/events/honorary-graduates-july-2015/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=University of York |language=en}}

He was elected an honorary Fellow of King's College London in July 2016.{{Cite web |title=New fellows of King's College London {{!}} Website archive {{!}} King's College London |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/archive/news/kings/newsrecords/2016/08%20august/new-fellows-of-kings-college-london |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=kcl.ac.uk}} Also in July 2016, Beevor was awarded the Medlicott Medal for services to history by the UK-based Historical Association.{{Cite journal |last=James |first=Trevor |year=2016 |title=The Historian |journal=Historian (London) |publisher=The Historical Association |pages=2 |issn=0265-1076}}

Beevor was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2017 New Year Honours for "services in support of Armed Forces Professional Development".{{London Gazette |issue=61803 |date=31 December 2016 |page=N2 |supp=y}}

He is also a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres,[http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/2010/summer/profiles/ Honorary Graduates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729030853/http://www.bath.ac.uk/ceremonies/2010/summer/profiles/|date=29 July 2017}}. University of Bath, 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2012. a member of Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana{{Cite web |title=president.ee |url=https://president.ee/et/ametitegevus/otsused/38332-249-riiklike-autasude-andmine |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=president.ee}} and a commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown.

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{{cite web |author=Antony Beevor |url=http://www.penguin.com/author/antony-beevor/1000000927 |title=Antony Beevor |publisher=Penguin.com |date=2014-04-24 |access-date=2014-06-23 |archive-date=13 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813200702/http://www.penguin.com/author/antony-beevor/1000000927 |url-status=dead }}
Stalingrad
The first Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction{{cite web|last1=Clark|first1=Nick|title=Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction: Helen Macdonald wins with 'H is for Hawk'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/samuel-johnson-prize-for-nonfiction-helen-macdonald-wins-with-h-is-for-hawk-9839212.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/samuel-johnson-prize-for-nonfiction-helen-macdonald-wins-with-h-is-for-hawk-9839212.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |date=4 November 2014 |access-date=10 November 2014}}
Wolfson History Prize{{Cite web |title=All winners of the Wolfson History Prize |url=https://www.wolfsonhistoryprize.org.uk/past-winners/all-winners/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=The Wolfson History Prize |language=en-US}}
Hawthornden Prize for Literature{{Cite web |title=Hawthornden Prize |url=https://www.hawthornden.org/hawthornden-prize |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=Hawthornden Foundation |language=en-US}}
Berlin: The Downfall 1945
Longman-History Today Trustees' Award{{cn|date=December 2024}}
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 (Spanish Edition)
La Vanguardia Prize for Non-Fiction{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Published works

=Fiction=

Violent Brink. London: John Murray, 1975. {{ISBN|978-0-7195-3241-2}}
For Reasons of State. London: Jonathan Cape, 1980. {{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: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-297-79523-0}}

=Nonfiction=

The Spanish Civil War. London: Orbis, 1982. {{ISBN|978-0-14-100148-7}}
Inside the British Army. London: Chatto and Windus, 1990. {{ISBN|978-0-552-13818-5}}
Crete 1941: 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.
Stalingrad. London: Viking Press, 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-670-87095-0}}
Berlin: The Downfall 1945. London: Penguin, 2002. {{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}}
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-14-303765-1}}
D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. London: Penguin, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-670-02119-2}}
The Second World War. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2012. {{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}}
Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917—1921. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2022. {{ISBN|978-1-474-61014-8}}

=Edited volumes=

A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 1941–1945 by Vasily Grossman. {{ISBN|978-0-375-42407-6}}

=Book contributions=

The British Army, Manpower and Society into the Twenty-First Century, ed by Hew Strachan {{ISBN|978-0-7146-8069-9}}
What Ifs? of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been, by Robert Cowley (Editor), Antony Beevor and Caleb Carr. (2003) {{ISBN|978-0-425-19818-6}}

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.antonybeevor.com/}}
[http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/history/historian/Antony_Beevor.html Antony Beevor Stalingrad Berlin - The Downfall 1945]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100115232606/http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/interview.aspx?id=2101 Antony Beevor discusses his book on the Spanish Civil War]
{{IMDb name|1674392}}
{{C-SPAN|1001965}}
[http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/antony-beevor-second-world-war/ Interview] on The Second World War at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on 21 June 2012
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08fdhjs Sir Antony Beevor] on Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 19 February 2017