Antony Beevor
Antony Beevor
Antony James Beevor, FRSLis an English military historian. He has published several popular histories on the Second World War and the 20th century in general...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth14 December 1946
clever army emotional
The great help of being in the Army is to understand why are the armies clever in what they describe as emotional intelligence, making soldiers come to terms with the death of comrades by certain rituals.
army friendly wave
I joined the Army in 1965 and served with the 11th Hussars, which I loved. The regiment was so relaxed - a salute was more like a friendly wave.
army asked aware estonia professor quite war
I was in Estonia when a professor asked me if I was aware that making any criticism of the Red Army during the war was now an imprisonable offence. I was quite shaken.
army bored camp ended life planning posted stay training wales wrote
I was planning to stay in the Army all my life, but I ended up being posted to a training camp in Wales and was so bored there, I wrote a novel.
army beginning fighting german group june ongoing preparing reaching red secretly troops vast war
At the beginning of June 1944, the war was reaching a climax. German troops had been brutalised by the savagery of the ongoing fighting in Russia, where the Red Army was secretly preparing its vast encirclement of the Germans' Army Group Centre.
understanding duty historian
The duty of a historian is simply to understand and then convey that understanding, no more than that.
believe historical
I am not someone who believes I am going to find a historical scoop.
mother jobs writing
It was only after five years in the army, when I was having to do a very boring job in a very boring place, that I thought: 'Why not try writing a novel?' partly out of youthful arrogance and partly because there had been a long line of writers in my mother's family.
children school disease
When I was a child I had something called Perthes' Disease which meant I was on crutches, so I was bullied at school and all that sort of stuff.
war military thinking
I think one of the great disasters (in military history) is the way that the Second World War has become the defining reference point for every crisis and every conflict.
stupid war d-day
The British bombing of Caen beginning on D-Day in particular was stupid, counter-productive and above all very close to a war crime.
book writing years
It takes me three or four years to research and write each book and the individual stories stay with you for a long time afterwards.
book reading writing
I just write the sort of book that I would enjoy reading myself, a book that is both scholarly and recreates the experience of people at that time.
block cities perfect
If you smash a city when you're trying to capture it, you actually end up providing the perfect terrain for the defenders while blocking the access for your own armoured vehicles.