James Owen (British author)
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James Owen (born 1969) is a British
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
and
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
.


Biography

Owen was born in Holland Park,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and was educated at
Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
and
University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...
. After a brief period as a barrister, he worked at ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'' as a journalist from 1995 until 2001. In 2004, with
Guy Walters Guy Edward Barham Walters (born 8 August 1971) is a British author, historian, and journalist. He is the author and editor of nine books on the Second World War, including war thrillers, and a historical analysis of the Berlin Olympic Games. ...
, he edited ''The Voice of War'', an anthology of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
memoirs, diaries and letters. In 2005, he published ''A Serpent in Eden'', an investigation of the unsolved murder in
The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
in 1943 of
Sir Harry Oakes Sir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet (23 December 1874 – 7 July 1943) was a British gold mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He earned his fortune in Canada and moved to the Bahamas in the 1930s for tax purposes. Though American by b ...
. Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction, this was filmed as a drama documentary, entitled ''Murder in Paradise'', for the UK's
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
and broadcast in December 2006. That year, Owen also published ''Nuremberg: Evil On Trial'', a re-examination on its 60th anniversary of the case conducted against the leading Nazis after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. ''Danger UXB'' tells the story of the early days of
Bomb Disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milita ...
during the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
and
The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
through the experiences of many of those involved, including Bertram Stuart Trevelyan Archer and
Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk Charles Henry George Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk, 13th Earl of Berkshire, (2 March 1906 – 12 May 1941) was an English bomb disposal expert who was also an earl in the Peerage of England, belonging to the ancient Howard family. He was style ...
. His most recent work, published in 2012, is ''Commando'', a history of the raiding force and its operations during the Second World War. Many of Owen's books seek to overturn long-held ideas and conventional wisdom. ''A Serpent in Eden'' rebuts the theory advanced by other writers that the
Duke of Windsor Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his abdication on 11 December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, ...
attempted to influence the outcome of the investigation into the murder of
Sir Harry Oakes Sir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet (23 December 1874 – 7 July 1943) was a British gold mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He earned his fortune in Canada and moved to the Bahamas in the 1930s for tax purposes. Though American by b ...
. Of ''Nuremberg: Evil On Trial'',
Marcel Berlins Marcel Berlins (30 October 1941 – 31 July 2019) was a French-born lawyer, legal commentator, author, broadcaster and columnist. He was best known for his work in the United Kingdom, writing for British national newspapers ''The Times'' and ''T ...
wrote that Owen had showed that it was not the fair and just trial usually claimed, while in ''Danger UXB'' Owen cast doubt on the supposed circumstances surrounding the saving of St Paul's Cathedral by Robert Davies (GC) and the subsequent award to him of the first George Cross.Owen, James (26 September 2010). ''Blown apart: the myth of the bomb at St Paul's cathedral.'' London: The Sunday Times. Retrieved 8 January 2011
/ref> In ''Commando'', Owen argues that the popular perception of the force has been shaped more by post-war films and literature than by their actual wartime role, which was less as small bands of raiders than as large formations of assault troops. He also points out that the Commandos in fact carried out few operations in their first two years as a unit, and that the excessive publicity these received led to much resentment of them by the rest of the Army. He is the editor of ''Great Letters'', a selection of notable, witty and quirky correspondence to
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
during the past century, and co-editor with Samantha Wyndham of ''Great War Letters'', an anthology of letters published in the newspaper during the First World War. Owen also works as a journalist and critic and is a former trustee of the
London Library The London Library is an independent lending library in London, established in 1841. It was founded on the initiative of Thomas Carlyle, who was dissatisfied with some of the policies at the British Museum Library. It is located at 14 St James' ...
. He was a teaching Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
(
LSE LSE may refer to: Computing * LSE (programming language), a computer programming language * LSE, Latent sector error, a media assessment measure related to the hard disk drive storage technology * Language-Sensitive Editor, a text editor used ...
) from 2012 until 2014 and at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
(UCL) in 2014-2015.


Bibliography

* ''The Voice of War'', with
Guy Walters Guy Edward Barham Walters (born 8 August 1971) is a British author, historian, and journalist. He is the author and editor of nine books on the Second World War, including war thrillers, and a historical analysis of the Berlin Olympic Games. ...
, Viking, 2004 * ''A Serpent in Eden'' Little, Brown, 2005 (Abacus, 2006) * ''Nuremberg: Evil on Trial'' Headline, 2006 * ''Danger UXB'' Little, Brown, 2010 * ''Commando'' Little, Brown, 2012 * ''Great Letters'' Times Books, 2017 * ''Great War Letters'' Times Books, 2018 * ''Great Quotations'' Times Books, 2018 * ''On This Day'' Times Books, 2018 * ''Great Events'' Times Books, 2020


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, James 1969 births Living people British non-fiction writers British male journalists People educated at Eton College Alumni of University College, Oxford