John Terraine

John Alfred Terraine (January 15, 1921 – December 28, 2003), though not an academic historian, was a leading British military historian. He is best known for his persistent defence of Douglas Haig and also as the leading scriptwriter on the BBC's landmark 1960s documentary "The Great War".

Terraine was educated at Stamford School and at Keble College, Oxford. After leaving Oxford, in 1944, he joined BBC radio and continued to work for the BBC for 20 years, latterly as its Pacific and South African Programme Organiser.

Among other series, Terraine was associate producer and chief scriptwriter of the 1963-64 "Great War" television series, and co-wrote its sequel, "The Lost Peace" (1965). After resigning from the BBC in 1964, he worked as a freelance television scriptwriter.

Terraine produced 16 books, most of them dealing with aspects of the great European wars of the 20th century and numerous articles and book reviews for The Daily Telegraph. His last book, "Business in Great Waters: The U-Boat Wars, 1916-1945" was published in 1989.

He was the Founder President of the Western Front Association from 1980 to 1997. For sheer scholarship, the quality and accessibility of his writing and for his debunking of historical myths, Terraine was one of the outstanding military historians of the 20th century. [cite web |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-terraine-549319.html |title=John Terraine: The Independent Obituaries |date=2004-01-23 |accessdate=2008-02-17 ]

In 1993, he edited a collection of diaries written by General James Jack during the First World War. They became a bestseller in the United Kingdom.

In 1997 he became patron of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies; he had been awarded the Institute's Chesney Gold Medal in 1982. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1987.

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