Charles Messenger spent nineteen years in the Royal Tank Regiment before pursuing a career as a military historian and defence analyst. He is the author of over forty books, including The Art of Blitzkrieg, The Commandos 1940 ¿ 1946 and The Second World War in the West. Messenger has also written biographies of three of the major German players in Normandy ¿ von Rundstedt, Rommel and Sepp Dietrich ¿ and has written and co-directed major television series for BBC Worldwide.