Kenneth Macksey

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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 a 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 debunked the view of historian Sir Basil Liddell-Hart regarding Hart's influence on the development of German tank theory before 1939.

Publications[]

  • The Shadow of Vimy Ridge. London: W. Kimber. 1965. OCLC 1601233.
  • Armoured Crusader: A Biography of Major-General Sir Percy Hobart. London: Hutchinson. 1967. ISBN 0-09-084950-7.
  • Africa Korps. New York: Ballantine Books. 1968. ISBN 0-345-21687-3.
  • Panzer Division, the Mailed Fist. New York: Ballantine Books. 1968. ISBN 0-345-24992-5.
  • Tank: A History of the Armoured Fighting Vehicle. London: Macdonald & Co. 1970. ISBN 0-356-03461-5.
  • Beda Fomm: Classic Victory. New York: Ballantine Books. 1971. ISBN 0-345-02434-6.
  • Anatomy of a Battle. New York: Stein and Day. 1974. ISBN 0-8128-1650-1 – via Archive Foundation.
  • Guderian: Creator of the Blitzkrieg. New York: Stein and Day. 1975. OCLC 3100080.
  • Kesselring: German Master Strategist of the Second World War. London: Greenhill Books. 2000 [1978]. ISBN 1-85367-422-2.
  • Rommel: Battles and Campaigns. London: Arms and Armour Press. 1979. ISBN 0-85368-232-1.
  • The Tanks: a History of the Royal Tank Regiment, 1945–1975. London: Arms and Armour Press. 1979. ISBN 978-0-85368-293-6.
  • Invasion: The Alternate History of the German Invasion of England July 1940. Ashcroft: Wren's Park Publishing. 2001 [1980]. ISBN 0-905778-79-0.
  • First Clash: Combat close-up in World War Three. New York: Sterling Publishing. 1985. ISBN 978-0-7737-2060-2.
  • Military Errors of World War II. London: Arms and Armour Press. 1987. ISBN 0-85368-830-3 – via Archive Foundation.
  • with William Woodhouse (1991). The Penguin Encyclopedia of Modern Warfare: 1850 to the Present Day. London: Viking Books. ISBN 0-670-82698-7.
  • Guderian: Panzer General. London: Greenhill Books. 1992. ISBN 1-85367-059-6.
  • The Hitler Options: Alternate Decisions of World War II. London: Greenhill Books. 1995. ISBN 978-1-84832-780-1.
  • Why the Germans Lose at War: The Myth of German Military Superiority. London: Greenhill Books. 1999 [1996]. ISBN 1-85367-383-8 – via Archive Foundation.
  • Without Enigma: The Ultra and Fellgiebel Riddles. London: Sharpe Books. 2018 [2000]. ISBN 978-0-7110-2766-4.
  • The Searchers: Radio Intercept in the Two World Wars. London: Sharpe Books. 2018 [2003]. ISBN 978-1-09-535843-6.

Notes[]

  1. ^ Commissioning date 23 April 1944
  2. ^ MC awarded 21 December 1944
  3. ^ Dated 5 October 1946
  4. ^ Dated 3 January 1947
  5. ^ Promotion date 1 July 1957
  6. ^ Retirement date 3 August 1968
  7. ^ Invasion (1980)
  8. ^ First Clash (1985)
  9. ^ Schmunk, Robert B. Tsouras, Peter G.; Kenneth Macksey; Jonathan North (eds.). (eds.). "Greenhill's Alternate Decisions". Uchronia: The Alternate History List. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
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