Simon Akam

Simon Akam is a British journalist and historian of the British Army.

Simon Akam
BornCambridge, England
OccupationJournalist, writer
Alma materWorcester College, Oxford

Early life

Akam was born in Cambridge and educated at The Perse School, the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.[1] During his gap year in 2003, he served a short service limited commission as a second lieutenant in the British Army.[2]

Published works

Akam has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The New York Times, Reuters, The Economist, GQ, and The Atlantic.[3]

The Changing of the Guard

In 2015, Akam was commissioned by Penguin Random House imprint William Heinemann to write a book on the British Army. Amid controversy, the book deal was later cancelled, and the resulting book was instead published by Scribe Publications in 2021.[4] The book's eventual publication provoked debate, with Anthony Loyd writing in the New Statesman that the book 'exposes the failures of the British army'.[5]

Awards and honours

In 2021, Akam was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize.[6]

In 2021, Akam and Natasha Loder jointly won a Feature of the Year prize from the Medical Journalists’ Association.[7]

Works
  • The Changing of the Guard: The British Army Since 9/11 (2021)

Notes
  1. "Simon Akam". Penguin Books. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  2. "Simon Akam". The Atlantic. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  3. "Simon Akam". Scribe Publications. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  4. "'A terrifying precedent': author describes struggle to publish British army history". The Guardian. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  5. "Simon Akam's The Changing of the Guard exposes the failures of the British army". New Statesman. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  6. "2021 EXPOSING BRITAIN'S SOCIAL EVILS prize short list". The Orwell Foundation. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  7. "Award: Natasha Loder and Simon Akam". The Economist. October 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.


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