James Holland

Holland was born in 1970 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, and grew up near Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral.⁠[1]

His elder brother, Tom Holland, is also a writer and historian; his great-uncle Charles Holland was one of the first two Britons to ride in the Tour de France.⁠[2]

From 1989 to 1992 he studied at St Chad’s College, Durham University, earning a B.A. in history.⁠[3]

After university he worked in the publicity departments of several publishing houses.⁠[1]

He recalled that seeing a Spitfire during a cricket match in his late twenties was “almost a Damascene moment,” after which he began writing a novel set during the Battle of Britain.⁠[4]

In 2003 Orion in London published his first history, Fortress Malta: An Island under Siege, 1940–1943; he followed it with the novel The Burning Blue (William Heinemann, 2004) and, in 2005, Together We Stand, a history of the North African campaign published by HarperCollins.⁠[1]

He said the book deal that came from his Malta research allowed him to give up his day job.⁠[4]

His television work includes BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry Two’s Battle of Britain: The Real Story (September 2010), National Geographic’s Nazi Megastructures (2013–2016), Normandy ’44: The Battle Beyond D-Day, aired on BBC Two on June 6, 2014, and History’s Hunting Hitler (2016–2018).⁠[2]

The Chalke Valley History Festival began in June 2011 on a small scale as a fundraiser for the local cricket club, with 12 talks across one weekend in its first year, and later grew into a week-long event on a 70-acre site.⁠[5]

Holland is a co-founder of the festival.⁠[3]

In 2015 Bantam Press published his The War in the West: A New History, a multi-volume new history of the Second World War in the West.⁠[6]

In 2016 he talked with his brother Tom Holland for the Chalke History Festival’s History Hub, discussing Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred the Great, and the significance of 927 for Britain’s destiny.⁠[7]

By May 2017 he had written nine works of historical fiction; he had written and presented the BAFTA-shortlisted BBC documentaries Battle of Britain and Dam Busters, had his own collection at the Imperial War Museum and was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.⁠[3]

On April 2, 2019, the Second World War podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk, co-hosted by Holland and Al Murray and produced by Goalhanger, launched.⁠[8]

Normandy ’44, published in 2019, covers the 77 days of fighting in Normandy; a review called it a “scrupulously balanced history” and noted its argument that superior logistics and materiel made the outcome certain from the first minutes.⁠[9]

On November 16, 2021, Atlantic Monthly published his Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment’s Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day, about the British tank regiment the Sherwood Rangers; a review called it “A fine account.”⁠[10]

By July 2022 he had written almost 40 fiction and non-fiction books on the Second World War, and the podcast had done about 450 episodes.⁠[4]

On December 12, 2023, Atlantic Monthly Press published in the United States his The Savage Storm, on the 1943 Italian campaign, told almost entirely through the contemporary eyes of participants on all sides and reappraising senior commanders such as Mark Clark.⁠[11]

On November 12, 2024, Atlantic Monthly Press published his Cassino ’44 in the United States.⁠[12]

A review published by the U.S. Army War College said the book tells the struggle to break through the German Gustav Line and liberate Rome, calling it a “masterful retelling.”⁠[13]

On May 24, 2025, he appeared as the guest of episode 470 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, discussing Hitler’s ideology, Operation Barbarossa, Churchill, the Battle of Stalingrad, concentration camps and the Battle of Normandy.⁠[14]

On May 7, 2026, Transworld published in the United Kingdom Victory ’45: The End of the War in Eight Surrenders, written with Al Murray, which tells the end of the war through eight surrenders.⁠[15]

On July 21, 2026, We Have Ways of Making You Talk released its 1,000th episode, and Holland thanked Al Murray, Goalhanger and the listeners in a statement.⁠[8]

He chairs the Chalke Valley History Festival and is a research fellow at the University of St Andrews.⁠[16]

X: Public account: https://x.com/James1940 (opens in a new window)⁠[14]

Substack: Public link: https://james1940.substack.com (opens in a new window)⁠[14]

Chalke Valley History Festival: Official website: https://www.chalkefestival.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[7]