Max Arthur
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Max Arthur
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|2|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Bognor Regis, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|5|2|1939|2|25|df=y}}
| death_place =
| notableworks = Forgotten Voices of the Great War (2002), Forgotten Voices of the Second World War (2004)
| website = {{URL|http://www.forgottenvoices.co.uk/}}
}}
Max Arthur OBE (25 February 1939 – 2 May 2019) was a military historian, author and actor who specialised in first-hand recollections of the twentieth century. In particular his works focussed on the First and Second World War.
Life
In the earlier years of his life, Arthur was an actor appearing in a number of minor roles on television, most notably as Zuko in the Doctor Who episode Planet of Fire.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/max-arthur-obituary-0w5grr2zz|title=Max Arthur obituary|date=2019-05-23|work=The Times|access-date=2019-05-23|language=en|issn=0140-0460}} He also appeared in the film Bloodbrothers and the television series Grange Hill.
Later in his life he changed direction and became a historian. As a historian his scholarship focussed in drawing together testimony from soldiers of their experiences during wartime. His most noted works were Forgotten Voices of the Great War (2002) and Forgotten Voices of the Second World War (2004) both in association with the Imperial War Museum.{{citation needed|date= September 2023}}
He also presented two television documentaries: The Brits Who Fought For Spain (2008–9), for The History Channel UK and Dambusters for Optimum Releasing.{{citation needed|date= September 2023}}
Arthur was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to military history.{{London Gazette |issue=60367 |date=29 December 2012 |page=9 |supp=y }}
On 2 May 2019, Arthur died of leukaemia aged 80.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/05/max-arthur-obituary|title=Max Arthur obituary|last=Cowen|first=Ruth|date=2019-06-05|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-06-06|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
Published works
- {{cite book
| date = July 23, 1992
| title = Men Of The Red Beret
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Sphere
| isbn = 978-0747411949
}}
- {{cite book
| date = December 2, 1993
| title = There Shall Be Wings: RAF from 1918 to the Present
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Coronet Books
| isbn = 978-0-340-60386-4
}}
- {{cite book
| date = December 4, 1997
| title = The Navy: 1939 to the Present Day
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
| isbn = 978-0-340-68469-6
}}
- {{cite book
| date = October 2, 2003
| title = Forgotten Voices of the Great War
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Ebury Press
| isbn = 978-0-09-188887-9
}}
- {{cite book
| date = June 18, 2004
| title = Symbol of Courage: A History of the Victoria Cross
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Sidgwick & Jackson
| isbn = 978-0283073519
}}
- {{cite book
| date = April 11, 2005
| title = Lost Voices of The Royal Navy: Vivid Eyewitness Accounts of Life in the Royal Navy from 1914-1945
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Hodder
| isbn = 978-0340838143
}}
- {{cite book
| date = May 5, 2005
| title = Forgotten Voices of the Second World War
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Ebury Press
| isbn = 978-0-09-189735-2
}}
- {{cite book
| date = June 1, 2005
| title = Lost Voices of the Royal Air Force
| url = https://archive.org/details/lostvoicesofroya0000arth
| url-access = registration
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
| isbn = 978-0340998694
}}
- {{cite book
| date = March 1, 2007
| title = Above All, Courage: The Eyewitness History of the Falklands War
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Phoenix
| isbn = 978-0304362578
}}
- {{cite book
| date = April 2, 2007
| title = Lost Voices of the Edwardians
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = HarperCollins
| isbn = 978-0-09-188887-9
}}
- {{cite book
| date = January 17, 2008
| title = The Busby Babes: Men of Magic
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Mainstream Publishing
| isbn = 978-1845963415
}}
- {{cite book
| date = November 6, 2008
| title = When This Bloody War Is Over: Soldiers' Songs of the First World War
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Piatkus
| isbn = 978-0749923549
}}
- {{cite book
| date = May 7, 2009
| title = Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Virgin Books
| isbn = 978-0-7535-1573-0
}}
- {{cite book
| date = April 29, 2010
| title = Fighters against Fascism: British Heroes of the Spanish Civil War
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = HarperCollins
| isbn = 978-0-00-733080-5
}}
- {{cite book
| date = June 6, 2010
| title = Last of the Few: The Battle of Britain in the Words of the Pilots Who Won It
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Virgin Books
| isbn = 978-0-7535-2227-1
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/lastoffewfinalwo0000arth
}}
- {{cite book
| date = October 14, 2010
| title = The Road Home: The Aftermath of the Great War Told by the Men and Women Who Survived It
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson
| isbn = 978-0753827208
}}
- {{cite book
| date = September 21, 2011
| title = The Real Band of Brothers: First-hand Accounts from the Last British Survivors of the Spanish Civil War
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Collins
| isbn = 978-0007295104
}}
- {{cite book
| date = May 7, 2012
| title = The Faces of World War I: The Great War in words & pictures
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Cassell
| isbn = 978-1844037124
}}
- {{cite book
| date = May 22, 2014
| title = The Silent Day: A Landmark Oral History of D-Day on the Home Front
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
| isbn = 978-1444787542
}}
- {{cite book
| date = June 19, 2014
| title = Last Post: The Final Word From Our First World War Soldiers
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson
| isbn = 978-1780227412
}}
- {{cite book
| date = July 31, 2014
| title = Lest We Forget: Forgotten Voices from 1914-1945
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Ebury Press
| isbn = 978-0091960179
}}
- {{cite book
| date = October 15, 2017
| title = Churchill: The Life: An authorised pictorial biography
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Cassell
| isbn = 978-1788400022
}}
- {{cite book
| date = November 2, 2017
| title = The Paras
| last = Arthur
| first = Max
| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
| isbn = 978-1444787580
}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928044740/http://www.forgottenvoices.co.uk/ Forgotten Voices website]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Max}}
Category:British non-fiction writers
Category:British military writers
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire