Gavin Mortimer
{{short description|British writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Gavin Nicholas Mortimer is a British writer.
Career
Educated at Mill Hill School in north London,{{cite web|title=House Spirit Wins in a Vintage 10 Mile Cup|url=https://www.millhill.org.uk/2008/04/house-spirit-wins-in-a-vintage-10-mile-cup/|website=Mill Hill Schools|accessdate=18 March 2018|date=1 April 2008}} Mortimer's first book, the critically acclaimed Fields of Glory: the extraordinary lives of 16 warrior sportsmen was published in 2001 and described by the Sunday Telegraph as "inspiring reading".Brough Scott,[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/3011901/Harrowing-accounts-of-war-reveal-the-real-heroes.html "Harrowing Accounts of War Reveal the Real Heroes"], 'The Telegraph', 2001 Mortimer authored Stirling's Men in 2004, which covered rugby international and SAS commander Paddy Mayne, as well as other members of SAS 'Originals'.{{cite web|last1=Furness|first1=Hannah|title=SAS 'not as tough as they used to be'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12192858/SAS-not-as-tough-as-they-used-to-be.html|website=The Daily Telegraph|accessdate=4 April 2018|date=13 March 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/unseen-archive-sas-photos-shows-10695721|title=Unseen archive of SAS photos revealed showing remarkable first pictures of force|last1=Bazaraa|first1=Danya|date=27 June 2017|website=Daily Mirror|accessdate=18 March 2018}} Mars & Minerva, the SAS regimental journal' described the book as "a fascinating insight into the Regiment's birth and its early years".
Mortimer has subsequently written histories of the Special Boat Squadron, Merrill's Marauders and the Long Range Desert Group, drawing on interviews with the men who served in these Special Forces units. He caused controversy in 2016 when he suggested that today's special forces lack the mental toughness of their forebears.Tom Batchelor, [https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/652800/SASgone-SOFT-shock-claims-elite-commandos-not-tough-used-to-be "SAS has gone 'SOFT'"], 'The Daily Express', 2016
Mortimer has acted as a consultant to several television documentaries including the three-part BBC series about the wartime SAS, which was broadcast in 2017.{{cite web|title=Episode 1, Series 1, SAS: Rogue Warriors|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08f00s0|website=BBC|accessdate=18 March 2018}}
In addition to his military history, Mortimer has written several narrative non-fiction books, including The Great Swim,{{cite web|title=Nonfiction Book Review: The Great Swim by Gavin Mortimer|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8027-1595-1|website=PublishersWeekly.com|accessdate=18 March 2018|language=en}} about the race to become the first woman to swim the English Channel. Dramatised on BBC Radio 4 in 2010,{{cite web|title=Gavin Mortimer - The Great Swim, Afternoon Drama|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tjf5d|website=BBC|accessdate=18 March 2018}}
He has contributed to BBC History magazine, History Revealed, WW2 magazine and The Spectator.
Publications
Non-fiction
- Fields of Glory (2001), {{ISBN|1472122097}}
- Stirling's Men: inside story of the SAS in WW2 (2004) {{ISBN|0304367060}}
- Longest Night (2005) {{ISBN|0297846388}}{{cite web|title=THE LONGEST NIGHT by Gavin Mortimer|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gavin-mortimer/the-longest-night-2/|website=Kirkus Reviews|accessdate=18 March 2018|language=en-us}}
- The Great Swim (2007) {{ISBN|1906021384}}{{cite web|title=THE GREAT SWIM by Gavin Mortimer|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gavin-mortimer/the-great-swim/|website=Kirkus Reviews|accessdate=18 March 2018|language=en-us}}
- Chasing Icarus (2008) {{ISBN|080271711X}}{{cite web|title=CHASING ICARUS by Gavin Mortimer|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gavin-mortimer/chasing-icarus/|website=Kirkus Reviews|accessdate=18 March 2018|language=en-us}}
- Double Death (2009) {{ISBN|0802717691}}{{cite web|title=DOUBLE DEATH by Gavin Mortimer|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gavin-mortimer/double-death/|website=Kirkus Reviews|accessdate=18 March 2018|language=en-us}}
- The Blitz (2010) {{ISBN|1849084246}}
- The Daring Dozen (2011) {{ISBN|184908842X}}
- The SAS in WW2 (2012) {{ISBN|1472808754}}
- A History of Football in 100 Objects (2012) {{ISBN|1781250618}}
- A History of Cricket in 100 Objects (2013) {{ISBN|1846689406}}{{cite web|last1=Wilby|first1=Peter|title=The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon by The Authors Cricket Club – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/18/authors-xi-trundlers-cycling-ashes-review|website=the Guardian|accessdate=4 April 2018|language=en|date=18 July 2013}}
- Merrill's Marauders (2013) {{ISBN|0760344329}}
- The SBS in WW2 (2014) {{ISBN|1472811135}}
- The First Eagles (2015) {{ISBN|0760346399}}
- The Men Who Made the SAS (2015) {{ISBN|1472122097}}
- History of the Long Range Desert Group in WW2 (2017) {{ISBN|1472819330}}
- Guidance from the Greatest: What the World War Two Generation can teach us (2020) {{ISBN|1472135121}}
- The SAS in Occupied France: 1 SAS Operations, June to October 1944 (2021) {{ISBN|152676962X}}
- Z Special Unit: The Elite Allied World War II Guerrilla Force (2022) {{ISBN|1472847091}}
- David Stirling: The Phoney Major: The Life, Times and Truth about the Founder of the SAS (2022) {{ISBN|1472134591}}
- 2 SAS: Bill Stirling and the forgotten special forces unit of World War II (2023). Oxford: Osprey Publishing. {{ISBN|1472856732}}
Children's
- ''The Ultimate Guide to Rugby (2007) {{ISBN|0141323213}}
- The Story of Yellow Leaf: Journal of a Sioux Girl (2008) {{ISBN|0764161091}}
- The Voyage of Shackleton's Endurance (2008) {{ISBN|0717143015}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.gavinmortimer.com/ Official website]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortimer, Gavin}}