Kenneth Macksey

Kenneth John Macksey MC (1 July 1923 – 30 November 2005) was a British author and historian who specialized in military history and military biography, particularly of the Second World War. Macksey was commissioned in the Royal Armoured Corps^[1] and served during the Second World War (earning a Military Cross under the command of Percy Hobart). Macksey later wrote the (authoritative) biography of Hobart.^[2] Macksey gained a permanent commission in 1946, was transferred to the Royal Tank Regiment in 1947, reached the rank of major in 1957 and retired from the Army in 1968.^[3][4][5][6]

Amongst many other books, Macksey wrote two volumes of alternate history, one, entitled Invasion, dealt with a successful invasion of England by Germany in 1940 and the other describing a NATO–Warsaw Pact clash in the late 1980s.^[7][8] The latter book, First Clash, was done under contract to the Canadian Forces and focuses on the Canadian role in such a conflict. He was an editor and contributor to Greenhill’s Alternate Decisions series since 1995.^[9]

In Macksey’s Guderian: Panzer General, he refuted the view of historian Sir Basil Liddell-Hart regarding Hart’s influence on the development of German Tank Theory in the years leading up to 1939.

Books in order of publication:

·  The Shadow of Vimy Ridge. W. Kimber. 1965.

·  Armoured Crusader: a biography of Major-General Sir Percy Hobart. London: Hutchinson. 1967.

·  Africa Korps. New York: Ballantine Books. 1968.

·  Panzer Division, the mailed fist. New York: Ballantine Books. 1968.

·  Tank: a History of the Armoured Fighting Vehicle. Macdonald & Co. 1970.

·  Beda Fomm: Classic Victory. New York: Ballantine Books. 1971.

·  Anatomy of a Battle. New York: Stein and Day. 1974..

·  Guderian: Creator of the Blitzkrieg. Stein and Day. 1975.

·  Kesselring: German master strategist of the Second World War. London: Greenhill Books. 2000 [1978].

·  Rommel: battles and campaigns. London: Arms and Armour Press. 1979.

·  The Tanks: a History of the Royal Tank Regiment, 1945-1975. London: Arms and Armour Press. 1979.

·  Invasion: the alternate history of the German invasion of England July 1940. Ashcroft: Wren’s Park Publishing. 2001[1980].

·  First Clash: Combat close-up in World War Three. USA: Sterling Publishing. 1985.

·  Military Errors of World War II. London: Arms and Armour Press. 1987.

·  with William Woodhouse (1991). The Penguin encyclopedia of modern warfare: 1850 to the present day. London: Viking Books.

·  Guderian: Panzer General. London: Greenhill Books. 1992. ISBN 1-85367-059-6.

·  The Hitler Options: Alternate Decisions of World War II. Great Britain: Greenhill Books. 1995.

·  Why the Germans lose at war: the myth of German military superiority. London: Greenhill Books. 1999 [1996].

·  Without Enigma: The Ultra and Fellgiebel Riddles. Sharpe Books. 2018 [2000].

·  The Searchers: Radio Intercept in the Two World Wars. Sharpe Books. 2018 [2003].