Richard Holmes (military historian)
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Professor Edward Richard Holmes CBE (born March 29 1946) is a noted military historian, particularly well-known through his many television appearances.
He was educated at Cambridge University, as well as the Universities of Northern Illinois and Reading.
His interest in military matters is not just a mere pastime. In 1964, he enlisted in the Territorial Army, the part-time volunteer organisation of the British armed forces. Two years later he gained his commission. He spent most of his career in the Territorial Army with the 5th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Queens Regiment, a NATO-centred infantry battalion.
Between 1969 and 1985 he was a member of the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, leaving to take command of the 2nd Battalion, The Wessex Regiment. He was promoted to Colonel when he chose to give up full-time service in 1986. In that same year, he was awarded the OBE (military) honour.
In 1990 he became Director of Cranfield University's Security Studies Institute. In February 1994, he was appointed Brigadier TA at Headquarters Land Command. In 1995 he was appointed Professor of Military and Security Studies.
From 1997 to 2000, he was Director Reserve Forces and Cadets, as well as having the distinguished honour of being Britain's senior serving reservist. In 1998, he was bestowed with another state honour, this time the CBE. In September 1999, he became Colonel of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshire), whose Colonel-in-Chief is Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
He has written over a dozen books, from Firing Line to his Redcoat. His latest television work was a documentary series on the American Revolution and a Battlefield series concentrating on the bloody battles of WWII. His War Walks television series has been regularly repeated on British terrestrial and digital television channels, including BBC2 and UKV History. One of his most compelling documentary series was Wellington: The Iron Duke, in which he chronicled the Duke's life, travelling to India, Waterloo and numerous other locations in a quest to truly reveal what the man was really like.
In the BBC poll to find the 100 Greatest Britons, Professor Holmes presented the programme on Oliver Cromwell.