Colin Smith (born 1944 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) is a British foreign affairs journalist and author. Smith has reported on news events in Bangladesh,

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, and the Middle East. He is an author of historical fiction and non-fiction, mainly focused on conflicts of the 20th century.

Life and career

For 26 years he worked for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', of which he was later appointed assistant editor, mainly reporting on wars and trouble spots, starting in 1971 with the Bengali uprising in what was then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He visited Cambodia and Vietnam during the closing stages of the American presence (1974–75) and remained in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) after the North Vietnamese Army entered the city. Smith later covered the Middle East, based first in Nicosia, then Cairo and Jerusalem and spending a considerable amount of time (1975–84) in Iran and Lebanon. In 1991 he reported on the First Gulf War, entering Kuwait City with the US Marines, the siege of Sarajevo and the Rwandan genocide. He has twice been named International Reporter of the Year in the British press awards and once runner-up.

Publications

''The Last Crusade'', a novel set against the backcloth of General Allenby's 1917 campaign against the Ottoman Turks in Palestine . Sharpe Books publish it as an Ebook under the title ''"Spies of Jerusalem".'' ''Singapore Burning'' is an account of the

fall of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

to Japan's General

Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore. His conquest of Malaya and Singapore in 70 days earned him the sobriquet "The Tig ...

in February 1942 which concentrates on the rearguard actions Australians, UK British and British Indian Army troops fought down the

Malayan peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

in the two months that preceded the surrender. ''England's Last War Against France'', published in London by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2009. It is a history of Allied campaigns against

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

between 1940 and 1942 containing considerable personal testimony from participants on both sides.

References

Books

*''Carlos – Portrait of a Terrorist''. 1976, revised Penguin edition 2012 . *''Cut Out'' (novel). 1979. Endeavour Ebook retitled Collateral Damage, 2014 *''The Last Crusade'' (novel). 1990. Endeavour Ebook retitled Spies of Jerusalem, 2013 *''Fire in the Night: Wingate of Burma, Ethiopia and Zion'' (with John Bierman). 1999. *''Alamein – War Without Hate'' (with John Bierman). 2002. *''Singapore Burning – Heroism and Surrender in World War Two''. Viking Penguin, London,(), 2005. *England's Last War Against France – Fighting Vichy 1940–42, Weidenfeld, 2009 *Let Us Do Evil (novel) Sharpe Books, 2018 *Warsaw Boy - Andrew Borowiec, Edited, Penguin, 2015

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Colin Living people The Observer people 1944 births British war correspondents