Jonathan David Latimer (1964 – 4 January 2009) was an historian and writer based in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. His books include ''Operation Compass 1940'' (Osprey, 2000), ''Tobruk 1941'' (Osprey, 2001), ''Deception in War'' (John Murray, 2001), ''Alamein'' (John Murray, 2002), ''Burma: The Forgotten War'' (John Murray, 2004) and ''1812: War with America'' (Harvard University Press, 2007) which won a Distinguished Book Award from the Society for Military History and was shortlisted for the George Washington Book Prize."Times" obituary
/ref>Donald R. Hickey

/ref> Born in

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that the ...

, Wales, Latimer was educated at Christleton County High School,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. He studied for a geography degree at

University College, Swansea Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

but switched course to graduate in oceanography. He worked as an oceanographer until becoming a full-time writer in 1997. In 2003, he became an honorary research fellow at his ''alma mater'' (by this time Swansea University) and was appointed as a part-time lecturer in history on the BA (Hons) degree scheme 'War and Society'. He was also a guest lecturer at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at

Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of Swindon. The 2011 Census recorde ...

. Latimer was an enthusiastic part-time soldier. Originally enlisting as a

sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer (military), pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefie ...

in the Royal Monmouthshire (Militia), he was commissioned in 1986 into the 3rd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers, Territorial Army. He spent periods attached to regular battalions in Northern Ireland (1989), Australia (1991–2) and as an intelligence officer (1992–3). Latimer died following a heart attack in January 2009. His book, ''Buccaneers of the Caribbean: How Piracy Forged an Empire'' was published posthumously in April 2009.

Selected works

*''Operation Compass 1940: Wavell's Whirlwind Offensive''. Oxford: Osprey Military, 2000. *''Deception in War''. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 2001. *''Alamein''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2002. *'' Burma: The Forgotten War''. London: John Murray, 2004. *''Tobruk 1941: Rommel's Opening Move''. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. (Originally published by Osprey in 2001) *''1812: War with America''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. *''Buccaneers of the Caribbean: How Piracy Forged an Empire''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009.

References

External links

Jon Latimer's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Latimer, Jon 1964 births 2009 deaths Historians of World War II British military writers British military historians Welsh scholars and academics Alumni of Swansea University People from Prestatyn Academics of Swansea University Royal Welch Fusiliers officers Royal Engineers soldiers