Clifford Beal

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Beal graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in History and later earned an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Sussex.[2] Early in his career he worked for the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics in the field of public policy and then entered journalism in the area of defence and security.[3] He joined the renowned military publisher Jane’s in 1991 and rose to become the Editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly in 1998. In 2000, he was named an Editor of the Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors.[4][5]

In dozens of television and radio appearances over a 10-year period, the media sought out Jane's Defence Weekly as a source of reliable, objective, and independent information on unfolding events such as Iraqi capabilities prior to the invasion, Russian airpower, chemical weapons, the Taliban threat, and the sinking of the submarine Kursk.[6] Beal managed a team of some 25 defence experts in London and other locations. In 2003, he publicly refuted the British Labour government and Bush administration claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, later to be proved correct.[7]

Leaving journalism at the end of 2003, Beal became a freelance consultant and author and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 2015.[8]

His first book, Quelch’s Gold, published in 2007, is the only major historical work on John Quelch, a privateer tried for piracy in 1704 in Boston and the first man to undergo a criminal trial under the Court of Admiralty outside of London. This landmark trial constituted a major miscarriage of colonial justice with long-term ramifications.[9][10] His other works have included the high-fantasy The Guns of Ivrea[11] and, most recently, a traditional historical fiction series beginning with Hawker and the King’s Jewel, published in 2022 by Canelo and set in the 15^th century.[12][13]

He writes under his own name and as Ethan Bale.[14]

• Official Website cliffordbeal.com