STEPHEN HARDING

 

Born and raised in California, I served in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1974, initially as an infantryman and then as a radio, television and print journalist. I then attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, earning BA and MA degrees in history.

My professional career has included stints as the director of a naval museum in San Francisco and as a staff historian for both the Army and Air Force, but I’ve spent most of my working life as a journalist specializing in military affairs. During 18 years on the staff of Soldiers magazine I reported from throughout the United States and from Northern Ireland, Israel, Egypt, New Zealand, Bosnia, Kuwait and Iraq. After retiring as Soldiers’ managing editor, I spent 13 years as editor of Military History, one of nine magazines published by Historynet. I retired from that position in 2022.  

I am also a longtime free-lancer on defense topics and aviation, military and maritime history. I have written for print and online magazines in both the United States and Great Britain, including Air & Space, Time, The Daily Beast, The History Channel, The History News Network, World War II, Jane’s Defense Weekly, Rotor & Wing, Ships Monthly, Sea Classics and Air Enthusiast, among others. In addition, I have been a featured speaker/author on media outlets including the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, Fox News and The John Batchelor Show. 

I have written 10 non-fiction books. The five most recent—Escape from Paris (Oct. 2019), Dawn of Infamy (Nov. 2016), The Castaway's War (May 2016), Last to Die (July 2015) and The Last Battle (May 2013)—were all published by Da Capo/Perseus/Hachette. The Last Battle made the New York Times best-seller list (twice), has been translated into 14 languages and is now in development as a major motion picture.

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