1. Career

2. Publications

3. References

4. External links

Gavin Nicholas Mortimer is a British writer and historian, specialising in World War Two Special Forces.

Career

Educated at Mill Hill School in north London,^[1] Mortimer's first book, the critically acclaimed 'Fields of Glory: the extraordinary lives of 16 warrior sportsmen' was published in 2001 and it was described by the Sunday Telegraph as "inspiring reading".^[2] In the course of researching rugby international and SAS commander Paddy Mayne for this book, Mortimer formed a friendship with Johnny Cooper, one of SAS 'Originals', who suggested writing a comprehensive wartime account of the Regiment.

With the assistance of Cooper, Mortimer interviewed more than sixty wartime members of the SAS and Special Boat Squadron over the course of two years, an enterprise that took him to Vancouver Island, Zimbabwe, Cyprus, Spain, France and all four corners of the UK. Among the veterans that Mortimer interviewed were Jeff Du Vivier, Jimmy Storie, Malcolm Pleydell, Reg Redington, Johnny Wiseman and Roger Boutinot, all of whom were members of L Detachment in 1941/2.^[3]

The result of Mortimer's research was 'Stirling's Men', published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2004.^[4] Mars & Minerva, the SAS regimental journal described the book as “a fascinating insight into the Regiment’s birth and its early years".

Mortimer has subsequently written histories of the Special Boat Squadron, Merrill's Marauders and Long Range Desert Group, drawing heavily on interviews with the men who served in these Special Forces units. He caused controversy in 2015 with an article in the Spectator^[5] that revealed the actor Christopher Lee had exaggerated his military service in order to make it appear he had served in the special forces, and the following year he made the headlines when he suggested that today's special forces lack the mental toughness of their forebears.^[6]

Mortimer has acted as a consultant to several television documentaries including the three-part BBC series about the wartime SAS, which was broadcast in 2017.^[7]

In addition to his military history, Mortimer has written several narrative non-fiction books, including 'The Great Swim',^[8] about the race to become the first woman to swim the English Channel. Dramatised on BBC Radio 4 in 2010,^[9] the Great Swim was described by the Daily Mail as "a fascinating and irresistible slice of sporting history".^[10]

He is a regular contributor to BBC History magazine, History Revealed, WW2 magazine and The Spectator, for whom he writes about French politics and the West's war with Islamic extremism, drawing parallels between the Nazis and ISIS. In an article in August 2017 Mortimer was the first writer to identify that ISIS terrorists were specifically targeting western women on account of their sex.^[11]

Publications

• Fields of Glory (2001), {{ISBN|1472122097}}
• Stirling's Men: inside story of the SAS in WW2 (2004) {{ISBN|0304367060}}
• Longest Night (2005) {{ISBN|0297846388}}^[12]
• The Great Swim (2007) {{ISBN|1906021384}}^[13]
• Chasing Icarus (2008) {{ISBN|080271711X}}^[14]
• Double Death (2009) {{ISBN|0802717691}}^[15]
• The Blitz (2010) {{ISBN|1849084246}}
• The Daring Dozen (2011) {{ISBN|184908842X}}
• The SAS in WW2 (2012) {{ISBN|1472808754}}
• A History of Football in 100 Objects (2012) {{ISBN|1781250618}}
• A History of Cricket in 100 Objects (2013) {{ISBN|1846689406}}^[16]
• Merrill's Marauders (2013) {{ISBN|0760344329}}
• The SBS in WW2 (2014) {{ISBN|1472811135}}
• The First Eagles (2015) {{ISBN|0760346399}}
• The Men Who Made the SAS (2015) {{ISBN|1472122097}}
• History of the Long Range Desert Group in WW2 (2017) {{ISBN|1472819330}}

References

External links

• Official website

• Radiosensitizing
• Radiosensitizing agent
• Radio series
• Radio Sessions 1974 - 1978 (Budgie album)
• Radio Sessions 1974-1978 (Budgie album)
• Radio Sessions 1974 – 1978 (Budgie album)
• Radio Sessions 1974–1978 (Budgie album)
• Radio Sessions '83-'84
• Radio set
• Radio Sfax
• Radio-Shack
• Radio Shack Corporation
• Radio Shack Model 100
• Radio Shack TRS-80
• Radio shalom
• Radio Shalom (disambiguation)
• Radio ship
• Radio Show
• Radio Show PERBALLJA
• Radio signal
• Radio Silence
• Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart
• Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR
• Radiosity
• Radiosity (disambiguation)