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 World War II. Macksey was commissioned in the Royal Armoured Corps^[1] and served in World War II (winning a Military Cross^[2]) under the command of Percy Hobart, later writing the (authoritative) biography of that leader. Macksey, gaining a permanent commission in 1946^[3] and being transferred to the Royal Tank Regiment in 1947,^[4] reached the rank of major in 1957,^[5] retiring from the Army in 1968.^[6]

Amongst many other books, Macksey wrote two volumes of alternate history, one dealing with a successful invasion of England by Germany in 1940,^[7] and the other describing a NATO - Warsaw Pact clash in the late 1980s.^[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 also refuted the view of historian Sir Basil Liddell-Hart regarding Hart's influence on the development of German Tank Doctrine in the years leading up to 1939.

Publications

Macksey's list of publications is very extensive^[10] and includes the following titles:

• 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. 
• Kesselring : German master strategist of the Second World War. London: Greenhill Books. 2000 [1978]. ISBN 1-85367-422-2. 
• Armoured crusader: a biography of Major-General Sir Percy Hobart. London: Hutchinson (publisher). 1967. ISBN 0-09-084950-7. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• Africa Korps. New York: Ballantine Books. 1968. ISBN 0-345-21687-3. 
• 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