Kenneth Macksey Explained

Kenneth John Macksey (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.

Life

After serving in the Royal Armoured Corps from 1941 as a Driver Mechanic,^[1] Macksey was commissioned in 1944.^[2] He served during the rest of Second World War in the 79th Armoured Division under the command of Percy Hobart,^[3] earning a Military Cross;^[4] he later wrote a biography of Hobart. Macksey gained a permanent commission in 1946,^[5] was transferred to the Royal Tank Regiment in 1947,^[6] reached the rank of major in 1957 and retired from the Army in 1968.^{[7] [8]}

Amongst many other books, Macksey wrote a volume of alternate history entitled Invasion, which dealt with a successful invasion of England by Germany in 1940.^[9] He also wrote the novel First Clash that describes a NATO–Warsaw Pact clash in the late 1980s and which seems in retrospect to be alternate history, but it was published in 1985 before the purported events of the conflict.^[10] First Clash was written under contract to the Canadian Forces and focuses on the Canadian role in such a conflict. Macksey also edited The Hitler Options, the first volume of a series of "alternate decisions" alternate history anthologies from Greenhill Books, in 1995.^[11]

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

• Book: The Shadow of Vimy Ridge . W. Kimber . London . 1965 . 1601233.
• Book: . London . . 1967 . 0-09-084950-7.
• Book: . New York . Ballantine Books . 1968 . 0-345-21687-3.
• Book: Panzer Division, the Mailed Fist . New York . Ballantine Books . 1968 . 0-345-24992-5.
• Book: Crucible of Power: The Fighting for Tunisia, 1942-1943 . London . . 1969.
• Book: Tank

  A History of the Armoured Fighting Vehicle

  . Macdonald & Co . London . 1970 . 0-356-03461-5.
• Book: Beda Fomm

  Classic Victory

  . New York . . 1971 . 0-345-02434-6.
• Book: Anatomy of a Battle . . 1974 . New York . 0-8128-1650-1 . registration . Archive Foundation.
• Book: Guderian

  Panzer General

  . London . Jane's Publishing . 1975. (Published in the US as Book: Guderian: Creator of the Blitzkrieg . New York . Stein and Day . 1976. 3100080. ; re-published as Book: Guderian: Panzer General . London and Novato. Greenhill Books and Presidio Press . 1992 . 1-85367-059-6.)
• Book: Kesselring

  The Making of the Luftwaffe

  . New York . David McKay Company . 1978. ; re-published as Book: Kesselring: German Master Strategist of the Second World War . London . Greenhill Books . 2000 . 1-85367-422-2.
• Book: Rommel

  Battles and Campaigns

  . London . Arms and Armour Press . 1979 . 0-85368-232-1.
• Book: The Tanks: a History of the Royal Tank Regiment, 1945–1975 . London . Arms and Armour Press . 1979 . 978-0-85368-293-6.
• Book: The Tank Pioneers . London, New York . Jane's Publishing . 1981 . 0-531-03734-7.
• Book: A History of the Royal Armoured Corps, 1914–1975 . Beaminster . Newtown Publications . 1983 . 0-950853-60-7.
• Book: Invasion: The Alternate History of the German Invasion of England July 1940 . Wren's Park Publishing . Ashcroft . 2001 . 1980 . 0-905778-79-0.
• Book: First Clash: Combat close-up in World War Three . . 1985 . New York . 978-0-7737-2060-2.
• Book: Military Errors of World War II . London . Arms and Armour Press . 1987 . 0-85368-830-3 . registration . Archive Foundation.
• Book: The Penguin Encyclopedia of Modern Warfare: 1850 to the Present Day . with William Woodhouse . . 1991 . London . 0-670-82698-7.
• Book: The Hitler Options: Alternate Decisions of World War II . Greenhill Books . 1995 . London . 978-1-84832-780-1.
• Book: Why the Germans Lose at War: The Myth of German Military Superiority . London . Greenhill Books . 1999 . 1-85367-383-8 . 1996 . registration . Archive Foundation.
• Book: Without Enigma: The Ultra and Fellgiebel Riddles . Sharpe Books . London . 2018 . 2000 . 978-0-7110-2766-4.
• Book: The Searchers: Radio Intercept in the Two World Wars . Sharpe Books . London . 2018 . 2003 . 978-1-09-535843-6.

Notes and References

1. A History of the Royal Armoured Corps (1983), biography on the rear dust-jacket flap
2. Web site: Commissioning date 23 April 1944.
3. Armoured Crusader (1967), biography on the rear dust-jacket flap
4. Web site: MC awarded 21 December 1944.
5. Web site: Dated 5 October 1946.
6. Web site: Dated 3 January 1947.
7. Web site: Promotion date 1 July 1957.
8. Web site: Retirement date 3 August 1968.
9. Invasion (1980)
10. First Clash (1985)
11. Web site: Greenhill's Alternate Decisions. Tsouras, Peter G.. Peter G. Tsouras. Kenneth Macksey . Jonathan North (eds.). . Schmunk. Robert B.. . 20 December 2012.