He attended universities of Cambridge, Northern Illinois and Reading.
He has written over a dozen military books, the best known being 'Firing
Line' and 'Soldiers' (later made into a BBC TV series).
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honors List and CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1998 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to the military history.