Levison Wood
{{short description|British Explorer,
Author and Army officer (born 1982)}}
{{Use British English |date=December 2015 }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = Major
| name = Levison Wood
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%| FRSA|FRGS|FRSGS|VR}}
| image = Levison Wood.jpg
| caption = at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2024.
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|5|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = Hartshill, Staffordshire, England
| occupation = Military officer, explorer, photographer and journalist
| website = {{URL|www.levisonwood.com/}}
| module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance = {{Flagu|United Kingdom}}
| branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| unit = Parachute Regiment
77th Brigade
| serviceyears = 2005–2010, 2012–present
| rank = Major
| servicenumber = 564688
| battles = War in Afghanistan
}}
}}
Major Levison James Wood, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSA|FRGS|FRSGS}}, VR (born 5 May 1982){{cite tweet |author=Wood, Levison |user=Levisonwood |number=595659678580867072 |date=5 May 2015 |title=What a place to spend a birthday! |access-date=26 December 2015}} is a British Army officer and explorer. He is best known for his extended walking expeditions in Africa, Asia, and Central America. He has also undertaken numerous other overland journeys, including a foot crossing of Madagascar and mountain climbing in Iraq. He documents his journeys through books, documentaries, and photography.
Life
The son of teachers Levison Wood and Janice, née Curzon, Wood was born on 5 May 1982 at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in Hartshill, Staffordshire. He grew up in nearby Forsbrook{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=Jeremy |date=10 January 2016 |title=Relative Values: the explorer Levison Wood and his father |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/relative-values-the-explorer-levison-wood-and-his-father-stjlpslvfwk |newspaper=The Sunday Times |access-date=11 September 2017}} and was educated at Painsley Catholic College,{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/tough-guy-levison-wood-on-walking-the-nile-and-looking-for-love-10162398.html |title=Tough guy: Levison Wood on walking the Nile and being ten times tougher than Bear Grylls |author=Hermione Eyre |work=London Evening Standard |date=8 April 2015 |accessdate=26 December 2015 }} before obtaining an honours degree in history at the University of Nottingham. He was commissioned as an officer into the Parachute Regiment on 13 April 2006{{London Gazette |issue=57994 |date=20 May 2006 |page=7379 |supp=y}} where he spent four years, serving in Afghanistan in Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul. Wood was promoted to Captain on 13 October 2008.{{London Gazette |issue=58912 |date=16 December 2008 |page=19637 |supp=y}}
He left the army in April 2010, took up a career in writing and photography, and has become a bestselling author. He has extensive experience in travel and exploration in over 100 countries and in 2011 was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He is an elected Fellow of the Explorers Club in New York, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a visiting Fellow of The Business School and holds honorary doctorates at Staffordshire University and The University of Nottingham.
Wood acts as a patron and ambassador for a number of charities including UNICEF, the Tusk Trust, The Glacier Trust,{{Cite web|url=http://theglaciertrust.org/project-news/2019/2/12/levison-wood-joins-tgt|title=Levison Wood joins The Glacier Trust|website=The Glacier Trust|date=12 February 2019 |access-date=26 May 2019}} the ABF The Soldiers' Charity{{cite web |url=http://www.levisonwood.com/biography/ |title=Biography |website=LevisonWood.com |date= |accessdate=26 December 2015 |archive-date=13 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013160629/http://www.levisonwood.com/biography |url-status=dead }} and [https://www.gwt.org.uk/ The Gurkha Welfare Trust]. He rejoined the army in 2012, serving as a reservist Major in the 77th Brigade.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
In March 2024 Wood was appointed as Chancellor of Staffordshire University, taking up the position on the 1st May.{{Cite web |date=2024-03-22 |title=Levison Wood to become Staffordshire University chancellor |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e87z31yq4o |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=BBC News |language=en-gb}}
Overland expeditions
Beginning in December 2013, over the course of nine months, he undertook the first ever expedition to walk the entire length of the river Nile from the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda. The expedition was inspired by the explorers John Hanning Speke, Richard Francis Burton, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/14/briton-to-walk-length-of-the-nile |title=Briton to walk length of the Nile on 4,250-mile trek from Rwanda to Egypt |author=James Meikle |date=14 November 2013 |accessdate=26 December 2015|newspaper=The Guardian}} Wood was accompanied by numerous guides, journalists (including Matthew Power), and friends along the different stages of the route. The expedition was commissioned into a four part television programme for Channel 4 that aired in January 2015, and Wood detailed the trip in his book Walking the Nile.{{cite web|publisher=Channel 4|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/walking-the-nile |title=Walking the Nile on Channel 4|author=Wood, Levison}} Power died during the programme from severe heat stroke. Wood was forced to abandon a {{convert|450|mi|adj=on}} section in South Sudan due to heavy fighting caused by civil war.{{cite news|title=Explorer Levison Wood completes River Nile walk|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29062489|work=BBC News |accessdate=3 March 2017|date=5 September 2014}}
In 2015, Wood embarked on another challenge: to walk the length of the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan, filming a documentary series and writing another book about the experience, which was published in January 2016.{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-tracks-levison-wood-walking-the-himalayas |title=Channel 4 tracks Levison Wood Walking the Himalayas |publisher=Channel 4 |date=26 August 2015 |accessdate=26 December 2015 }}
In September 2017 he began his most ambitious challenge to date: a full circumnavigation of the Arabian Peninsula: travelling from Syria, through Iraq, the Gulf, crossing part of the Empty Quarter desert in Oman, traversing Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Holy Land to finish in Lebanon; an expedition totalling {{convert|5000|mi}}. During the course of the journey, he was embedded with Iraqi troops fighting ISIS where he witnessed the liberation of Sharqat and also encountered Palestinian guerrillas and Hezbollah operatives. He visited the city of Palmyra which was then under Russian control. This journey was documented in the Discovery series Arabia With Levison Wood.
Channel 4 broadcast Walking the Americas from January 2017, featuring an expedition from Mexico to Colombia. The channel then broadcast his journey along the Caucasus in the four-episode series From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers.{{Cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/from-russia-to-iran-crossing-wild-frontiers/episode-guide/|title=From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers: From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers – Episode Guide|publisher=Channel 4|access-date=8 October 2019|archive-date=16 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716063219/https://www.channel4.com/programmes/from-russia-to-iran-crossing-wild-frontiers/episode-guide|url-status=dead}}
In May 2020, Channel 4 commenced broadcasting Walking with Elephants, where Levison followed the 650-mile migration of elephants across Botswana.[https://www.channel4.com/programmes/walking-with-elephants Channel 4 - Walking with Elephants]
In August 2023, Levison presented Levison Wood: Walking with...; a three-part wildlife documentary series that aired on Channel 4.{{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/levison-wood-walking-with|title=Levison Wood: Walking with...|website=channel4.com|accessdate=21 August 2023}}
Awards
=Military Awards & Decorations=
=Literary Awards=
Walking the Himalayas was voted "Adventure Travel Book of the Year" for 2016 at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.edwardstanfordawards.com/adventure-travel-book-of-the-year |title=Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2016 |publisher=Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards |year=2017 |accessdate=30 October 2019}}
Wood was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Staffordshire University in 2017 in recognition of his work as an explorer, writer and photographer.{{cite web |url=https://www.staffs.ac.uk/about/honorary-graduates/major-levison-wood |title=Honorary Graduates: Major Levison Wood |publisher=Staffordshire University |year=2017 |accessdate=17 July 2022}}
Bibliography
- 2015 – Walking the NileLondon: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|9781471135637}}
- 2016 – Walking the Himalayas: An Adventure of Survival and Endurance
- 2017 – Eastern Horizons: Hitchhiking the Silk Road
- 2017 – Walking the AmericasLondon: Hodder & Stoughton. {{ISBN|9781473654068}}
- 2018 – Arabia: A Journey Through The Heart of the Middle East
- 2019 – Incredible Journeys: Discovery, Adventure, Danger, Endurance {{ISBN|9781526360434}}
- 2020 - The Last Giants
- 2020 - Encounters: A Photographic Journey
- 2021 - The Art of Exploration
- 2022 - Endurance
- 2023 - Escape from Kabul
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.levisonwood.com/}}
- {{IMDb name|6976055}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Levison}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham
Category:People associated with Staffordshire University
Category:People from Forsbrook
Category:People from Hartshill
Category:British Parachute Regiment officers
Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
Category:Military personnel from Stoke-on-Trent
Category:British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)