Alistair Horne

Alistair Horne
Born	1925-11-09
Occupation(s)	Historian, author, journalist
Known for	Biography of Harold Macmillan, The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962
Notable work	Harold Macmillan biography, The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962, Kissinger: 1973, The Crucial Year
Awards	CBE (1992), Knight Bachelor (2003), Chevalier, Ordre de la Légion d'honneur (1993), Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (1968)

In 1970, Horne became a senior member at St Antony's College, Oxford, advancing to fellow status in 1978. He was named honorary fellow in 1988 and maintained this position until his passing. Knighted in 2003 for his contributions to Anglo-French relations, his professional life blended rigorous scholarship with diplomatic engagement.

Early life and education

Born on 9 November 1925, Horne was the sole son of Sir Allan Horne and Auriol (née Hay-Drummond), who was related to the 13th Earl of Kinnoull. His education included Eastacre and Ludgrove School, which he later characterized as dominated by "humbug, snobbery and rampant bullying," designed to instill resilience. He had an aversion to Stowe School and left for the United States during World War II.

While in America, he attended Millbrook School, where he developed a lifelong friendship with William F. Buckley Jr. Between 1943 and 1944, he served in the Royal Air Force, followed by a commission as an officer in the Coldstream Guards from 1944 to 1947. He earned a Master of Arts degree from Jesus College, Cambridge and received a LittD from the University of Cambridge in 1993.

Personal life

Horne married Renira Hawkins, daughter of Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hawkins, in 1953; they had three daughters before their marriage ended in 1982. His second marriage was to Sheelin Lorraine Ryan, an artist and former spouse of Simon Eccles (son of David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles), in 1987. The couple lived in Turville, Buckinghamshire.

He voiced opposition to establishing a Montessori school near his Turville residence due to concerns about financial arrangements linked to summer holidays for children coming from London.

Horne was also passionate about cricket.

Career

From 1952 until 1955, Horne served as a foreign correspondent for The Daily Telegraph based in Berlin. In 1953, MI6 recruited him, with his journalism role serving as intelligence cover. He ceased intelligence activities following his dismissal from the Telegraph in 1955.

He authored the authorized biography of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, releasing a two-volume set in 1988. His book The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 earned the Hawthornden Prize in 1963.

His acclaimed work A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962, published in 1977, won the Wolfson Prize the following year. After the Iraq invasion in 2003, this title gained prominence within U.S. military circles and was recommended to President George W. Bush by Henry Kissinger. Horne appeared on a PBS Charlie Rose Show panel discussing the Iraq War in 2007 and reportedly met President Bush that year, an encounter he recounted in The Daily Telegraph.

In 2004, citing workload and age considerations, Horne declined to write Henry Kissinger’s official biography but later authored Kissinger: 1973, The Crucial Year (2009), concentrating on a defining period in Kissinger’s career.

Alistair Horne Fellowship

At St Antony's College, Horne founded the Alistair Horne Fellowship to assist emerging historians engaged in writing contemporary history. This fellowship provides both financial support and the opportunity to become a senior member of the college.

Selected works

• Return to Power: A Report on the New Germany. New York: Praeger, 1956.
• The Land is Bright. 1958.
• Canada and the Canadians. Toronto: Macmillan, 1961.
• The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1962.
• The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune, 1870–1871. London: Macmillan, 1965. Revised edition: Penguin Books, 2007.
• To Lose a Battle: France 1940. London: Macmillan, 1969.
• Death of a Generation Neuve Chapelle to Verdun and the Somme. 1970.
• The Terrible Year: The Paris Commune, 1871. London: Macmillan, 1971.
• Small Earthquake in Chile: A Visit to Allende's South America. London: Macmillan, 1972 (expanded edition, 1990).
• A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962. London: Macmillan, 1977.
• Napoleon, Master of Europe 1805–1807. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1979.
• The French Army and Politics, 1870–1970. New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1984.
• Harold Macmillan. New York: Viking Press, 1988. [Official biography]
  • Volume I: 1894-1956
  • Volume II: 1957-1986
• A Bundle from Britain. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.
• Montgomery, David (co-author). Monty: The Lonely Leader, 1944–1945. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
• How Far from Austerlitz? Napoleon, 1805–1815. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.
• Horne, A. (ed.). Telling Lives: From W.B. Yeats to Bruce Chatwin. London: Papermac, 2000.
• Seven Ages of Paris. London: Macmillan, 2002. American edition available.
• The Age of Napoleon. New York: Modern Library, 2004.
• Friend or Foe: An Anglo-Saxon History of France. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004.
• La Belle France: A Short History. Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
• The French Revolution. Carlton Books, 2009.
• Kissinger: 1973, The Crucial Year. Simon & Schuster, June 2009.
• But What Do You Actually Do?: A Literary Vagabondage. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011.
• Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century. Harper, 2015.

Honours and awards

• CBE (1992)
• Knight Bachelor (2003)
• Chevalier, Ordre de la Légion d'honneur (1993)
• Fellow, Royal Society of Literature (1968)