Colonel Nicolas John Lipscombe (born 5 June 1958 in

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) is a British historian, author, tour guide, lecturer and university tutor.

Military career

Lipscombe was commissioned into the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1981 following his military and academic training at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

where he was awarded the Tombs Benson Memorial Scholarship. During his 34 years of military service in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

he spent most of his career abroad and/or on operations. He was awarded the United States

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

in 2006 in recognition of services during coalition operations in Iraq.

Academic career

Lipscombe was educated at St. Peter's Catholic School, Bournemouth. In 1990 he obtained his

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree from

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

, Shrivenham and the Indian Defence Services Staff College. He is the author of a number of historical works that are best categorised as military history from the seventeenth through to the nineteenth centuries. Having lived and worked for 7.5 years in the location, he is recognised as a world authority on the battles and battlefields of the Iberian Peninsula and Southern France. Andrew Roberts selected the ''Peninsular War Atlas'' as one of the

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

(History) Books of the Year in November 2010. Lipscombe edited (and contributed to) the official Waterloo 200 book, ''Waterloo, The Decisive Victory'' compiled to commemorate the Bicentenary of the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

. Lipscombe was chairman of Peninsular War 200 (now dissolved), the official organisation established in 2008 to commemorate the bicentenaries of the battles and sieges of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

1808–1814. The organisation worked for both the UK

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

and the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

and in conjunction with Waterloo 200 and the civil and military authorities in Spain, France and Portugal. He is a trustee of the British Cemetery at Elvas, Portugal. In 2015 Lipscombe was an advisor and presenter on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary on ''Wellington: The Iron Duke Unmasked''. He was elected a fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

in 2015. He has been a tutor at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

’s Department of Continuing Education since 2017. Having been a member of the British Commission for Military History for a number of years, Lipscombe joined the Committee in 2018.

Bibliography

* ''The Peninsular War Atlas'', (

Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British publishing company specializing in military history formerly based in Oxford. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company p ...

, Revised Edition 2014) * ''Wellington’s Guns'', (Osprey Publishing, 2013) * ''Bayonne & Toulouse 1813-14, Wellington Invades France'', (Osprey Publishing 2014) * ''Wellington’s Forgotten Front'', (Gerard Books 2013) * ''Wellington’s Eastern Front, The Campaign on the East Coast of Spain 1810-1814'', (

Pen and Sword Books Pen and Sword Books, also stylised as Pen & Sword, is a British publisher which specialises in printing and distributing books in both hardback and softback on military history, militaria and other niche subjects, primarily focused on the Unit ...

, 2016) * ''Waterloo, The Decisive Victory'', (Osprey Publishing 2015) * ''The English Civil War, An Atlas and Concise History of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1639–51'', (Osprey Publishing 2020) ‘There has long been a need for a good atlas of the English Civil War, and Nick Lipscombe, who has already fully met the need for one for the Peninsular War, now does so again.' Professor Jeremy Black

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipscombe, Nick Historians of the Napoleonic Wars British military historians British television presenters 1958 births Living people 21st-century British historians People from Angers Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Alumni of Cranfield University Royal Artillery officers Fellows of the Royal Historical Society