Geoffrey Bernard Regan (15 July 194628 March 2005) was an English author of
popular history, senior school teacher and broadcaster. He authored books focused on military failures, and wrote for newspapers and periodicals such as ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' and ''
History Today
''History Today'' is a history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and publishes articles of tradit ...
''.
Education and career
Regan attended Sunbury Grammar School from 1957 onwards, University of Kent from 1965–1970, receiving his B.A. and M.A., and took his
Postgraduate Certificate in Education at University of London in 1972. He taught at senior school level from 1971 through to 1990. He lived in
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
,
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 ...
.
Reception
''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...
'', describing Regan as author of "numerous popular military histories", wrote that ''Lionhearts'' "shines a soft, flattering light" on the warring leaders Saladin and Richard I, and scarcely condemns atrocities against captives.
A review of ''Great Military Disasters'' in the
U.S. Air Force's ''Air Power Journal'' referred to it as "in depth"; the author's "historical perspective demonstrates the usefulness of studying history to gain insight, temper judgement, and train the mind". The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' stated that with the book's "melancholy roll-call of failure, the student of military history might well wonder how anybody wins".
''Fight or Flight'' was described in its 1996 ''Air Power Journal'' review as "readable, well organized, and extremely accessible", and "with an increasing number of military books dealing with technology,
.. it is refreshing to find a book that emphasizes the one element found in all combat – people."
Works
He published more than 40 books, including:
* ''Great Military Disasters: A Historical Survey of Military Incompetence'' 1988.
* ''The Guinness Book of Military Blunders'' Guinness. 1991.
* ''Fight or Flight'' 1996.
* ''Lionhearts: Saladin, Richard I, and the Era of the Third Crusade'' 1999.
* ''Backfire: A History of Friendly Fire'' 1999.
* ''Great Military Blunders'' 2000, . Regan was the Series Consultant for the
Channel Four television series ''Great Military Blunders''
* ''Naval Blunders'' 2000.
* ''Royal Blunders'' 2004.
* ''Battles That Changed History'' 2006.
* ''First Crusader: Byzantium's Holy Wars'' 2003.
References
External links
* .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regan, Geoffrey
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of London
English military historians
Alumni of the University of Kent