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Ricky D Phillips was born in December 1978 in Whetstone North London as the younger of identical twins and is a Military Historian and an Associate Member of the Royal Historical Society. He is a nine-time #1 Best Selling Author in the UK & USA on subjects ranging from Ancient History to the Napoleonic Wars and the 1982 Falklands War: the subject for which he is most well known.

Early life and education
Phillips trained at Southgate Technical College in where he obtained a Degree in Engineering and moved to be an army officer in the REME. In 1999, he suffered a serious injury which left him requiring orthopaedic and neuro surgery, as well as suffering with PTSD, effectively ending his selection training with the British Army, and so went into the corporate world, becoming Operations and Technical Director for a major Engineering partnership. In 2008 he moved to Stockbridge, Edinburgh, where he now resides.

Writing
Ricky D Phillips began writing military history in 2002 having always held the subject as a great passion. By the age of 21 he had already amassed over 3,000 military history books into his collection, which grew over the years. In this time, from 2002-2015 he wrote eight military history books but never published any of them, although his contributions to digital military history were recognised. In 2009 he created the British Military History group on Linkedin, which was for many years the biggest and fastest-growing professional military history group on the internet.

In 2014 Phillips’ dedication to digital and online Military History, whilst still unpublished, led to him being included in the Society for Army Historical Research “Top 15 most influential people in military history” book list and was followed by his first TV appearance for STV in his Napoleonic Wars presentation “Sixty Battles” and also for his work on the Victoria Cross, entitled “Nine Valiant Academicals.” He also worked that year as a historian on Japanese TV.

The First Casualty
“The First Casualty – The Untold Story of the Falklands War” was published (originally by Navy Books of Liskeard, and later by BEIC Books of Edinburgh) on March 28th 2017 on the 35th anniversary of the Falklands War. The book was the first detailed look at the Falklands invasion of April 2nd 1982 and drew together over 300 witnesses from the UK, Argentina and the Falkland Islands to compile the history of the battle of Stanley. The book focused upon the contemporary media reports that the greatly-outnumbered Royal Marines garrison had offered a mere ‘token resistance’ at best and proved that a great number of incidents were deliberately hidden from the public view to slant the opinion of the world powers into a more pro-British stance.

Shortly after publication, Phillips acquired the rights to The First Casualty from the original publisher and incorporated it under “British East India Company Books Ltd”. The First Casualty (“TFC”) became a Five-Star #1 Best Seller and has held the #1 position in Military History, History of Naval Forces & Maritime Archaeology six times in its various print runs and editions. It has sold in over 40 countries around the globe. Her Majesty the Queen requested a signed copy for the library at Balmoral Castle.

Launched at the Royal Marines Museum in Portsmouth, the book was reported in the Portsmouth News under the banner headline of “VINDICATED”. The newspaper later added a second mobile-friendly story of the same, again referring to the Royal Marines as “Completely Vindicated.”

Sixty Battles
Ricky D Phillips' next book was Sixty Battles – The Complete Battles of Napoleon Bonaparte from Toulon to Waterloo which entered the Amazon charts as #1 New Release in both the UK and USA and was Amazon #1 Best Seller in both the UK and USA the very next day, making it his second back-to-back #1

The first book which lists every battle, combat, skirmish or action in which Napoleon fought and commanded, with data grids and 40 battle and campaign maps.

The detailed description of the Battle of Wagram in 1809 led it to being the basis for the “Paper Wars” wargame, “Wagram 1809- Napoleon’s Last Triumph” by Compass Games, issue 93 by Ty Bomba. The book was also referenced by veteran historian Susan Jaques in her Napoleonic History “The Caesar of Paris.”

Hannibal Rising
Two months after “Sixty Battles” came Ricky D Phillips’ third release, “Hannibal Rising – The Hunt for a Lost Battle and a New Past” in which the historian describes his ultimately successful quest to discover Hannibal‘s first ever battlefield, lost since 220BC. and the location of “The Saw” fought by Hannibal’s father Hamilcar in 238BC and the most famous of his battles.

Having discovered two of the most important ancient battlefields in history and debunked the mystery of the “Espada de Anibal” – the supposedly lost magical sword of Hannibal himself, which Phillips actually found – he was also featured in two articles by “Ancient Origins” Magazine, firstly for the battle: “Military Historian Discovers Hannibal’s Long Lost Battlefield” and secondly for the sword: “Espada de Anibal – The Mystery Behind Hannibal’s Magical Lost Sword”.

Last Letters from Stanley
On April 2nd 2021 Ricky D Phillips released his second Falklands War book “Last Letters from Stanley“ the first English language book on the Falklands War from the Argentine perspective since 1989, with artwork again provided by artist Ray Rushbrook. The book became #1 New Release & #1 Best Seller and was first featured by Argentine newspaper Via Pais

In November 2021 he issued the first in a planned series of Falklands War pictorial histories in the “Osprey” style, called “Tied With Wires – The Incredible Argentine Inventions & Weapons of the Falklands War” which reached No.2 in Amazon best sellers chart, followed by “The Falklands Invasion – A Pictorial History” in May 2022.

Phoenix and Belgrano: The Life and Death of a Warship
In October 2023 Ricky D Phillips released the “Phoenix and Belgrano: The Life and Death of a Warship” which told for the first time the entire story of the USS Phoenix / ARA General Belgrano Brooklyn Class Cruiser from the drawing board through to her final controversial sinking. He spoke on the “A Few Minutes of History” Podcast about this a few days after publication

Other Works and Collaborations
Ricky D Phillips Phillips has acted as a historical consultant to Paul Fraser Collard, author of the military-history-fiction genre Jack Lark series on his two American Civil War books, “The True Soldier” and “The Rebel Killer” and is mentioned in both for his contributions in helping with the historical backdrop and, in the case of “The Rebel Killer” a great deal of the historical plot and research too, as well as suggesting to Paul the use of the now-famous Le Mat revolver used by the main character in the book.

In 2018 Ricky D Phillips also worked with modern-day military-history-fiction author, the USA based Gary Albyn on his highly-acclaimed book “Red Talon” the sequel to “A League of Warriors” which took Albyn’s lead character to the 1982 Falklands War. Albyn, already a big fan of “The First Casualty” asked Phillips if he might be the first to fictionalise the story, and Phillips helped with character development, historical advice and wrote the foreword to the book.

Appointments, teaching and awards
Phillips was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Historical Association in 2024.

Activism and campaigning
Phillips was also in the press for gathering the crew of the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible to upstage and refute the speech of Argentine pilot Gerardo Isaac, who claimed to have sunk the ship in the Falklands War, and this was picked up by both the Portsmouth News  and the Daily Express  in their own version of the article.

Phillips’ contribution to the vast “War History Online” Magazine was a piece also about the Falklands War entitled “Lured onto the Punch” which the magazine claimed to be one of their most successful and widely read articles of all time. In August 2019 he was also featured in the Falkland Islands’ own Penguin News after discovering the truth behind the ashes of Argentine General Mario Menendez which, having been claimed to have been smuggled into the Falklands by the family, was found to have been a hoax.

Most recently, he has been thanked, credited and mentioned in the books by Major Mike Norman and Historian Michael Jones, by veteran Brian Short in “The Band That Went to War”, by Major Mike Seear in “Gurkhas, Falklands And Leadership” where Phillips provided some new information, and in The Falklands Timeline  by acclaimed Falklands historian Roger Lorton where he has no less than thirteen references.

TV and Film
Ricky D Phillips has appeared on Japanese TV as a historian as well as on the BBC, The History Channel, Talk TV  and STV  and is a regular “Talking Head” historian on RT News  having defended National Monuments in one interview , Remembrance Day in another  and also having castigated Capita in the new “Snowflakes” Army Recruitment Campaign.

In November 2020 he appeared on Chris Thrall’s “Bought the T-Shirt” show where he spoke about The First Casualty and “Last Letters From Stanley”

In January 2021 Ricky D Phillips appeared as a guest on History Hack where he debunked many of the great mysteries of the Falklands War.

In March 2021 Ricky D Phillips appeared on The Patriot Show Podcast with Anth Malone, Rogue Warrior, to talk about “Last Letters from Stanley”.

In summer 2021 he brought the story of The First Casualty and Last Letters from Stanley to the USA on The History Author Show and iHeart Radio, where host Dean Karyanis compared him to famous American Civil War historian Shelby Foote in his style and delivery.

Ricky D Phillips appears in the Oscar-Nominated film “Mary Queen of Scots” as an actor playing a soldier of the Earl of Moray.

Battlefield Guide and Guest Lecturer
Ricky D Phillips is a trained battlefield guide, having toured on the WW1 Western Front although he is better known for tours of the Scottish battlefields from Stirling Bridge through to Bannockburn, and Killiecrankie to Culloden and regularly tours the Highlands as a battlefield guide.

Ricky D Phillips is also a guest lecturer at book festivals and history events, to the military and the British Army as well as to Academia, including to Glasgow University and, in April 2019, at the Manchester University FM37 Falklands War Symposium, where he received acclaim for a highly detailed presentation on the Falklands invasion, which was backed up by veterans from the day.

Legal
From 2018-2021 Ricky D Phillips was the focus of a stalker named Martin Dione, a graphic designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dione’s obsessive fascination for Phillips and especially for his work in The First Casualty has seen Dione served with Cease & Desist orders for libel, defamation, theft of copyright and aggravated harassment and is the subject of an ongoing police investigation for cyber stalking, which has been propagated over Facebook, Twitter, Quora, Reddit, Amazon, YouTube and other platforms alongside Dione’s own website dedicated to Phillips’ work, in which he falsely claims it as “dissected”.

Personal Life and Current Projects
Ricky D Phillips is a great grand nephew of Henry Blogg GC BEM known as “The Greatest of the Lifeboatmen” who saved 873 lives at sea and was awarded the George Cross and the British Empire Medal.

Phillips lives with long-term partner, former model & actress and now animal welfare and ethical / sustainable champion, JoJo Hernandez, in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. Together, the pair support fourteen charities, ranging from Animal Welfare to PTSD, Homelessness, Mental Health, Dementia, Cancer Research and more. Their one great love is their dogs, Tio, Tullulah, Mimi, Bibi & Faith and the pair also rescue dogs from kill pounds in Europe, of which Tullulah was one of four rescued and re-homed so far through the Wild at Heart Foundation and Mimi, Bibi & Faith through Europaws Rescue. In 2019 JoJo was struck down with an aggressive and neurological auto-immune disease: NMO Spectrum Disorder, which left her in a coma and partially blind, although with a partial recovery and chemotherapy, she continues today with her charity work wherever possible and indeed more so in many ways, now working hands-on with Animal Rescue & Welfare charities, with Edinburgh’s homeless community and also as a Sustainable Champion.

Books

 * Tom Watson, Agrarian Rebel (1938)
 *  The Battle for Leyte Gulf (1947, new ed. 1965) online
 * Origins of the New South, 1877–1913 (1951) borrow for 14 days
 * Reunion and Reaction: The Compromise of 1877 and the End of Reconstruction (1951, rev. edn 1991)
 * The Strange Career of Jim Crow. (1st edn February 1955; 2nd edn August 1965; 3rd edn NY: Oxford University Press, 1974). ISBN 978-0-19-501805-9. borrow for 14 days
 * The Age of Reinterpretation (1961), pamphlet
 * The Burden of Southern History (1955; 3rd edn 1993)

Major journal articles

 * "Tom Watson and the Negro in Agrarian Politics". Journal of Southern History, Vol. 4, No. 1 (February 1938), pp. 14–33.
 * "The Irony of Southern History". Journal of Southern History, Vol. 19, No. 1 (February 1953), pp. 3–19.
 * "The Political Legacy of Reconstruction". Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 26, No. 3, The Negro Voter in the South (Summer 1957), pp. 231–240.
 * "The Age of Reinterpretation". American Historical Review, Vol. 66, No. 1 (October 1960), pp. 1–19.