Alex Kershaw – Best Selling World War II Author

Alex Kershaw is one of the foremost authors writing on World War II subject matter, having written multiple best sellers.  He was born in York, England and taught history before becoming a journalist. He has written for various publications including the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Sunday Times and the New York Times.

His 2002 book “The Bedford Boys” became his first New York Times best seller. It tell the story of Bedford, Virginia, a small town that lost 21 of her sons during World War II, nineteen of them during the first minutes of D-Day.  His book “The Liberator” recounts the amazing story of maverick officer Felix Sparks who spent an amazing 500 straight days in combat. “The Liberator” was made into a Netflix four part series.

Approaching the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, Kershaw shares the stories of some of the key warriors who landed first on D-Day. (As featured in his book “The First Wave”) Examples include Bill MIllin, the only man to land on D-Day wearing a kilt, playing the bagpipes no less. He emphasizes that there was “no plan B for D-Day”. Kershaw prefers to “write about faces rather than numbers.” His books do a great job of introducing us to individuals and their role in the larger scenario.

Kershaw also gives us a preview of his latest work “Patton’s Prayer”. He believes that General Patton was an extremely complex individual and one of the most underrated officers of World War II. The book focuses on what Kershaw believes were some of Patton’s finest hours during the Battle of the Bulge.

Kershaw also conducts regular guided tours of the Normandy battlefields as part of his role with The Friends of National World War II Memorial.

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