Richard O. Collin is an American author and scholar of international affairs. He is distinguished professor emeritus of political science at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

Biography

Early life and military service

Richard Oliver Collin graduated from

Canisius University Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 mas ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

in 1962 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in classical languages and history. He began graduate school at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

but was called into active duty in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He served as a briefing officer under the Deputy Chief of Staff of Intelligence before becoming an official in the

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) specializing in military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense and the United States In ...

. He went on to work as an intelligence officer in Europe and the Middle East.

Academic career

After his service ended, he received master's degree in political science from

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

before graduating with a PhD in politics at

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 ...

in 1983. He became Palmetto Professor of Politics at

, and is currently distinguished professor emeritus of political science. Collin wrote several works about international affairs, including ''The De Lorenzo Gambit: The Italian Coup Manqué of 1974'' (1975) and ''The Blunt Instruments: Italy and the Police'' (1985). In 1990, he co-authored ''Winter of Fire'', about the kidnapping of James L. Dozier by the

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( , often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group. It was responsible for numerous violent incidents during Italy's Years of Lead, including the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978, ...

, with Gordon Freedman. In 2012, he co-wrote ''Introduction to World Politics'' with Pamela L. Martin. He also contributed articles about international politics to publications like ''

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 ...

'' and ''

The Globalist ''The Globalist'' is a daily online magazine that "focuses on the economics, politics and culture"The Globalist: About U ...

''.

Historical novels

In 1980, he published the political thriller novel ''Imbroglio'', set in contemporary Italy. He also wrote the historical romance novel ''Contessa'' (1994), about the relationship between a peasant woman and an aristocrat during the rise of Mussolini. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' praised the novel's historical accuracy but wrote that Collins' lack of understanding of "human relations or emotional truths" made its story fall flat. His second novel, a spy thriller titled ''The Man With Many Names'' (1995), was more well received. It followed disillusioned American intelligence official during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Personal life

Collin lives in

East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to the south-west ...

, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collin, Richard O. Coastal Carolina University people Political science writers Political science educators Canisius University alumni American spy fiction writers American historical fiction writers American historians of espionage University of Kansas alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford