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 (winning 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 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.

Publications

• The Shadow of Vimy Ridge. W. Kimber. 1965. OCLC 1601233.
• Guderian, Creator of the Blitzkrieg. Stein and Day. 1975. OCLC 3100080.
• Armoured Crusader: a biography of Major-General Sir Percy Hobart. London: Hutchinson (publisher). 1967. ISBN 0-09-084950-7.
• Africa Korps. New York: Ballantine Books. 1968. ISBN 0-345-21687-3.
• Kesselring: German master strategist of the Second World War. London: Greenhill Books. 2000 [1978]. ISBN 1-85367-422-2.
• Invasion: the alternate history of the German invasion of England July 1940. Ashcroft: Wren's Park Publishing. 2001 [1980]. ISBN 0-905778-79-0.
• Guderian: Panzer General. London: Greenhill Books. 1992. ISBN 1-85367-059-6.
• Why the Germans lose at war: the myth of German military superiority. London: Greenhill Books. 1999 [1996]. ISBN 1-85367-383-8.
• Military Errors of World War II. London: Arms and Armour Press. 1987. ISBN 0-85368-830-3.
• 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 0853682933.
• Anatomy of a Battle. New York: Stein and Day. 1974. ISBN 0-8128-1650-1.
• Panzer Division, the mailed fist. New York: Ballantine Books. 1968. ISBN 0-345-24992-5.
• Beda Fomm: Classic Victory. New York: Ballantine Books. 1971. ISBN 0-345-02434-6.
• with William Woodhouse (1991). The Penguin encyclopedia of modern warfare: 1850 to the present day. London: Viking Books. ISBN 0-670-82698-7.
• First clash: Combat close-up in World War Three. USA: Sterling Publishing. 1985. ISBN 978-0-7737-2060-2.

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.