Carlo D'Este (1936 – November 22, 2020) was an American

military historian Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...

and biographer, author of several books, especially on World War II. He was a decorated U.S. Army

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. In 2011, he was awarded the Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. D'Este died at the age of 84 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Education

D'Este attended New Mexico Military Institute

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

in 1956. He received his B.A. (

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

) from

Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...

in 1958, an M.A. from the University of Richmond in 1974, and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Norwich in 1992. He received his master's from University of Richmond in 1974 and then attended University of London under the G.I. bill.

Career and other work

*Military historian and biographer, 1978–present *Member of

Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee The Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee was established in January 1947 within the United States Army. In 1996, it was made a subcommittee of the Department of Defense Historical Advisory Committee. History The Department of the Ar ...

*Honorary member, Board of Fellows of Norwich University *President of the Friends of Norwich Library *Elected trustee of Mashpee

Public Library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

, Mashpee, Massachusetts for 21 years *United States Army, tours of duty in Germany and Vietnam, retired as lieutenant colonel, 1978. *Lecturer at School of Advanced Military Studies, United States Army Command and General Staff College *Founded (with W.E.B. Griffin) the William E. Colby Military Writers' Symposium (1996). That organization presents the Colby Award. *Advised President of the United States Bill Clinton on his visit to Italy, England, and Normandy (1994) A&E adapted his biography of

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

to television for its Biography (TV series) (and, presumably, its Biography Channel) in 1995. In 1996,

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

interviewed him about that book on its Booknotes program.

Awards and honors

He was awarded the Andrew J. Goodpaster Prize by the American Veterans Center, 2010. He delivered the annual Kemper Lecture on Winston Churchill at Westminster, College, Fulton, Missouri, 2010. In 2011, he received the $100,000 Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. The award includes an honorarium, citation and medallion, sponsored by the Chicago-based Tawani Foundation. As part of the award, he gave an interview at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...

on October 21, 2011, reflecting on his writing career in the field of World War II scholarship.

Writings

*''Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign'', Dutton (

New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

), 1983. *''Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, 1943'', Dutton (New York, NY), 1988. *''World War II in the Mediterranean, 1942–1945'', Algonquin (Chapel Hill, NC), 1990. *''Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome'', HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991. *''Patton: A Genius for War'', HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995. *''Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life, 1890–1945'',

Henry Holt Henry Holt may refer to: *Henry Holt (North Dakota politician) (1887–1944), lieutenant governor *Henry Holt (publisher) (1840–1926), American publisher and author **Henry Holt and Company, Holt's publishing company *Henry E. Holt (born 1929), ...

(New York, NY), 2002. * *(introduction to) "Sicilia 1943. Lo sbarco alleato" by Ezio Costanzo (author), Le Nove Muse Editrice (Catania, Italy), 2003 *(introduction to) ''Battle, the Story of the Bulge'',

John Toland John Toland (30 November 167011 March 1722) was an Irish people, Irish rationalist philosopher and freethought, freethinker, and occasional satirist, who wrote numerous books and pamphlets on political philosophy and philosophy of religion, whi ...

, Random House (New York, NY), 1959 *(contributor to) ''Few Returned: Twenty-eight Days on the Russian Front, Winter 1942–1943'', edited by Eugenio Corti, University of Missouri Press (

Columbia, MO Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

), 1997. * Review of

Rising '44. The Battle for Warsaw ''Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw'' is the title of a documented and illustrated historical account of the Warsaw Uprising by the historian Norman Davies. It was mostly well received by specialists and commentators during its publication. One ...

, by

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor at ...

Decorations

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

, New Mexico Military Institute, 2002 *Norwich University,

D.H.L. The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...

, 1992 *Board of Fellows Service Medallion, Norwich University, 2008

References

'', Vol 5 No 24, December 22, 1983
"Montgomeries"
pp. 7–8 (a review of Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign - subscription required for full access) *''London Review of Books'', May 26, 1994, review of ''Decision in Normandy'', p. 3. *'' National Review'', August 12, 2002, Victor Davis Hanson, "Soldier of Contrasts, " p. 49. *'' The New York Times'', September 8, 1988, review of ''Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily'', 1943, p. C21. *'' The New York Times Book Review'', January 22, 1984, review of ''Decision in Normandy'', p. 10 *''New York Times Book Review'', November 27, 1988, Walter Lord, review of ''Bitter Victory'', p. 18 *''New York Times Book Review'', July 21, 1991, review of ''Fatal Decision'' *''New York Times Book Review'', p. 27; December 10, 1995,

Alistair Horne Sir Alistair Allan Horne (9 November 1925 – 25 May 2017) was a British journalist, biographer and historian of Europe, especially of 19th- and 20th-century France. He wrote more than 20 books on travel, history, and biography. Early life, ...

, review of ''Patton: A Genius for War'' *''New York Times Book Review'', pp. 9, 11; July 28, 2002, Timothy Naftali, "The Hardest Job in the Longest Day, " p. 8. *'' Publishers Weekly'', October 14, 1983, review of ''Decision in Normandy'', p. 51 *''Publishers Weekly'', July 1, 1988, review of ''Bitter Victory'', pp. 61–62 *''Publishers Weekly'', April 12, 1991, review of ''Fatal Decision'', p. 51 *''Publishers Weekly'', April 15, 2002, review of ''Eisenhower'', p. 49. *'' Times Literary Supplement'', September 16, 1988, Michael Carver, review of ''Bitter Victory'', p. 1022 *''Times Literary Supplement'', September 6, 1991,

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...

, review of ''Fatal Decision'', pp. 11–12 *''Times Literary Supplement'', June 10, 1994, review of ''Decision in Normandy'', p. 33. *'' The Wall Street Journal'', December 8, 1995, Mark Yost, review of ''Patton'', p. A10 *''The Wall Street Journal'', July 12, 2002, Max Boot, "Less to Like about Ike, " p. W12.*

External links

Carlo D'Este from HarperCollins Publishers
Publisher's biographic sketch
Patton, Harper Perennial, Carlo D'este, Book - Barnes & Noble
Bookseller's biographical sketch
Carlo D'Este Interview
and biography at The

from February 8, 2007 *
''In Depth'' interview with D'Este, July 6, 2003

Interview
on ''Warlord: a life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945'' at the

on November 13, 2008
Webcast Panel
on U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower with

Geoffrey Perret Geoffrey Perret is an English author who writes about American history. His work focuses primarily upon the political dynamics that influence strategic and tactical military decisions, as well as broader political themes. He has published over th ...

at the

on October 23, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Este, Carlo 1936 births Writers from Oakland, California New Mexico Military Institute alumni Norwich University alumni Alumni of the University of London University of Richmond alumni American biographers American male biographers American military historians Historians of World War II United States Army colonels Recipients of the Legion of Merit Historians from California 2020 deaths