Guy Walters
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Guy Edward Barham Walters (born 8 August 1971) is a British author, historian, and journalist. He is the author and editor of nine books on the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, including war thrillers, and a historical analysis of the Berlin Olympic Games.


Early life and education

Walters was born in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, London, on 8 August 1971. He was educated at Cheam School,
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
,
Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...
, University of London (now part of
Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...
).


Career

From 1992 to 2000, he worked at ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
''. His first book, ''The Traitor'', was published in 2002, and concerns the British Free Corps, a British unit of the
Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...
. '' The Leader'' (2003) is an
Alternative History Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...
set in a Britain ruled by
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...
as a
Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
dictator. ''The Occupation'' (2004) takes place during the
German occupation of the Channel Islands The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are British Crown dependencies in the ...
. ''The Colditz Legacy'' (2005) is set in
Colditz Castle Colditz Castle (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance architecture, Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the States of Germany, state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns o ...
during the war and the 1970s. With James Owen, he edited ''The Voice of War'' in 2004, a collection of
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
memoirs. In 2006 he published ''Berlin Games'', a history of the
1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...
, which was shortlisted for the 2006 William Hill Sports Book of the Year and the 2007 Outstanding Book of the Year by the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. In 2009, Walters published ''Hunting Evil'', a history of how the Nazi war criminals escaped after the war, and how they were brought to justice. "Frustrated at the enormous amount of junk history around, Guy sees it as his personal mission to wage war on ignorance and misconceptions about the past." He was scathing about the Hitler conspiracy book and film ''
Grey Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...
'' describing it as "2,000 per cent rubbish" when the book was published. Walters added: "It's an absolute disgrace. There's no substance to it at all. It appeals to the deluded fantasies of conspiracy theorists and has no place whatsoever in historical research." Walters has raised questions regarding the veracity of Denis Avey's claims to have smuggled himself into
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
. He has also questioned the level of acclaim given to
Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu, E. N. (2012), "Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands". ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), pp. 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British Nursing, nurse and Women in business ...
, saying "She was a very worthy woman, it would be churlish not to hold her up as a good role model. The problem is that, because of her colour and because of political need, her achievements are massively oversold." In June 2013, he was appointed to the position of lecturer in modern British history at the New College of the Humanities in London. In July and October 2020, he criticised restrictions and closures at British archives related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, arguing that these were an enhanced continuation of reduced access enacted prior to the pandemic.


Personal life

Walters lives in Wiltshire with his wife the writer Annabel Venning and their two children.


Selected publications


Fiction

* ''The Traitor'' (2002), *''The Leader'' (2003), *''The Occupation'' (2004), *''The Colditz Legacy'' (2005), * ''Diary of a Hapless Househusband'' (2007) (as Sam Holden), * ''Growing Pains of a Hapless Househusband'' (2008) (as Sam Holden),


Non-fiction

*''The Voice of War: The Second World War Told by Those Who Fought It'' (2004), (ed. with James Owen) *''Berlin Games: How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream'' (2006), *'' Hunting Evil: The Nazi War Criminals who Escaped and the Dramatic Hunt to Bring Them to Justice'' (2009), * ''The Real Great Escape'' (2013), * ''Nazis, Spies & Fakes: Ten Years at the Coalface of History'' (2013) * ''Naumann's War: The Life of Werner Naumann from 1909 to 1945'' (2016)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Guy 1971 births Living people 21st-century British historians 21st-century British novelists Alumni of Westfield College British historical novelists British male novelists British historians of World War II People educated at Cheam School People educated at Eton College The Times people