{{Short description|British military historian (1939–2019)}} {{more citations needed|date=May 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox writer/doc --> | name = Max Arthur | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1939|2|25|df=y}} | birth_place = Bognor Regis, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|5|2|1939|2|25|df=y}} | death_place = | notableworks = ''Forgotten Voices of the Great War'' (2002), ''Forgotten Voices of the Second World War'' (2004) | website = {{URL|http://www.forgottenvoices.co.uk/}} }} '''Max Arthur''' OBE (25 February 1939 – 2 May 2019) was a military historian, author and actor who specialised in first-hand recollections of the twentieth century. In particular his works focussed on the First and Second World War.
==Life== In the earlier years of his life, Arthur was an actor appearing in a number of minor roles on television, most notably as Zuko in the ''Doctor Who'' episode ''Planet of Fire''.<ref name="obit">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/max-arthur-obituary-0w5grr2zz|title=Max Arthur obituary|date=23 May 2019|work=The Times|access-date=23 May 2019|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> He also appeared in the film ''Bloodbrothers'' and the television series ''Grange Hill''.<ref name="obit"/>
Later in his life he changed direction and became a historian. As a historian his scholarship focussed in drawing together testimony from soldiers of their experiences during wartime.<ref name="obit"/> His most noted works were ''Forgotten Voices of the Great War'' (2002) and ''Forgotten Voices of the Second World War'' (2004) both in association with the Imperial War Museum.{{citation needed|date= September 2023}}
He also presented two television documentaries: ''The Brits Who Fought For Spain'' (2008–09), for The History Channel UK and ''Dambusters'' for Optimum Releasing.{{citation needed|date= September 2023}}
Arthur was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to military history.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=60367 |date=29 December 2012 |page=9 |supp=y }}</ref>
On 2 May 2019, Arthur died of leukaemia aged 80.<ref name="obit"/><ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/05/max-arthur-obituary|title=Max Arthur obituary|last=Cowen|first=Ruth|date=5 June 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=6 June 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==Published works== * {{cite book | date = 23 July 1992 | title = Men of the Red Beret | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Sphere Books | isbn = 978-0747411949 }} * {{cite book | date = 2 December 1993 | title = There Shall Be Wings: RAF from 1918 to the Present | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Coronet Books | isbn = 978-0-340-60386-4 }} * {{cite book | date = 4 December 1997 | title = The Navy: 1939 to the Present Day | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | isbn = 978-0-340-68469-6 }} * {{cite book | date = 2 October 2003 | title = Forgotten Voices of the Great War | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Ebury Press | isbn = 978-0-09-188887-9 }} * {{cite book | date = 18 June 2004 | title = Symbol of Courage: A History of the Victoria Cross | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Sidgwick & Jackson | isbn = 978-0283073519 }} * {{cite book | date = 11 April 2005 | title = Lost Voices of The Royal Navy: Vivid Eyewitness Accounts of Life in the Royal Navy from 1914-1945 | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Hodder | isbn = 978-0340838143 }} * {{cite book | date = 5 May 2005 | title = Forgotten Voices of the Second World War | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Ebury Press | isbn = 978-0-09-189735-2 }} * {{cite book | date = 1 June 2005 | title = Lost Voices of the Royal Air Force | url = https://archive.org/details/lostvoicesofroya0000arth | url-access = registration | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | isbn = 978-0340998694 }} * {{cite book | date = 1 March 2007 | title = Above All, Courage: The Eyewitness History of the Falklands War | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Phoenix | isbn = 978-0304362578 }} * {{cite book | date = 2 April 2007 | title = Lost Voices of the Edwardians | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = HarperCollins | isbn = 978-0-09-188887-9 }} * {{cite book | date = 17 January 2008 | title = The Busby Babes: Men of Magic | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Mainstream Publishing | isbn = 978-1845963415 }} * {{cite book | date = 6 November 2008 | title = When This Bloody War Is Over: Soldiers' Songs of the First World War | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Piatkus | isbn = 978-0749923549 }} * {{cite book | date = 7 May 2009 | title = Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Virgin Books | isbn = 978-0-7535-1573-0 }} * {{cite book | date = 29 April 2010 | title = Fighters against Fascism: British Heroes of the Spanish Civil War | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = HarperCollins | isbn = 978-0-00-733080-5 }} * {{cite book | date = 6 June 2010 | title = Last of the Few: The Battle of Britain in the Words of the Pilots Who Won It | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Virgin Books | isbn = 978-0-7535-2227-1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/lastoffewfinalwo0000arth }} * {{cite book | date = 14 October 2010 | title = The Road Home: The Aftermath of the Great War Told by the Men and Women Who Survived It | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson | isbn = 978-0753827208 }} * {{cite book | date = 21 September 2011 | title = The Real Band of Brothers: First-hand Accounts from the Last British Survivors of the Spanish Civil War | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Collins | isbn = 978-0007295104 }} * {{cite book | date = 7 May 2012 | title = The Faces of World War I: The Great War in words & pictures | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Cassell | isbn = 978-1844037124 }} * {{cite book | date = 22 May 2014 | title = The Silent Day: A Landmark Oral History of D-Day on the Home Front | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | isbn = 978-1444787542 }} * {{cite book | date = 19 June 2014 | title = Last Post: The Final Word From Our First World War Soldiers | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson | isbn = 978-1780227412 }} * {{cite book | date = 31 July 2014 | title = Lest We Forget: Forgotten Voices from 1914-1945 | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Ebury Press | isbn = 978-0091960179 }} * {{cite book | date = 15 October 2017 | title = Churchill: The Life: An authorised pictorial biography | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Cassell | isbn = 978-1788400022 }} * {{cite book | date = 2 November 2017 | title = The Paras | last = Arthur | first = Max | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | isbn = 978-1444787580 }}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928044740/http://www.forgottenvoices.co.uk/ Forgotten Voices website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Max}} Category:1939 births Category:2019 deaths Category:British non-fiction writers Category:British military writers Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Bognor Regis Category:British male writers Category:Male non-fiction writers