Philip A. Haigh

Philip Andrew Haigh (born 5 October 1964) is a British I.T. Professional, TV presenter and writer of non-fiction military history books, mostly on the subject of the Wars of the Roses, although in recent years he has taken to writing military fiction works based on characters and events from World War II.

Philip A. Haigh
BornPhilip Andrew Haigh
(1964-10-05) 5 October 1964
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England
Years active1995–present
SpouseSarah Louise Claxton (1990–present)

Early life

Haigh was born in Birkby, Huddersfield in West Yorkshire in October 1964. The youngest of three children born to William and Sylvia Haigh (both now deceased), he was later educated at John Smeaton Community College in East Leeds where he was chosen to both represent the school and West Yorkshire in a number of track and field events, including the 200 and 1500 meter's – as well as 'Cross Country'.[1]

Later life

In 1980, Haigh commenced a career in retail, working for major UK based supermarket chains such as Morrisons and Asda Stores. He entered Asda's retail management training program in June 1984 and undertook a number of junior then senior roles within store operations, before finally taking up a central role at Asda's head office in Leeds in 1994.[2]

It was during this time that he commenced his academic writing. In 1998, Haigh left Asda to pursue an I.T. career working in service management and program management for 'blue chip' I.T. organisations such as IBM, Cap Gemini, Sun Microsystems and Computacenter, before working as an independent I.T. consultant specialising in strategic outsourcing and managing large scale transformational business change programs.[3]

In 1999, Haigh founded the Yorkshire Battlefields Society, but after building close links with the Battlefields Trust, the society merged with the trust in 2002. At this time, Haigh became a trustee of the Battlefields Trust and editor of the trusts' journal 'Battlefield' – which was formally the Yorkshire Battlefields Society's quarterly magazine.[4]

Haigh is married with two children (a son Lewis, and a daughter Charlotte). A keen yachtsman, scuba diver and mountain climber (having climbed in the Alps with Kenton Cool), he currently resides in West Yorkshire, where he also serves as a Magistrate on the Leeds 'bench'.[5]

Publications

Haigh retains a wide following of loyal readers. Most of his works are to do with the subject of the Wars of the Roses (or the Hildyard Baronets to which he is related by marriage), although in recent years he has turned to writing works of fiction. The titles are as follows:-

Non-fiction
  • The Military Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses (Alan Sutton Publishing, 1995)[6]
  • The Battle of Wakefield 1460 (Alan Sutton Publishing, 1996)[7]
  • Where Both the Hosts Fought – The Battles of Edgecote and Lose-Cote-Field (Battlefield Press, 1997)[8]
  • Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses (Bramley Books, 1998)[9]
  • From Wakefield to Towton 1460 – 1461 (Pen and Sword Books, 2002)[10]

Fiction

  • Drake R.N. (Due 2014)
  • Drake and an Act of Treason (Due 2015)
  • Drake's Escape (No known date)

TV Appearances

As well as featuring in a number of BBC and ITV 'news programmes', Haigh has also appeared in a number of other history related TV documentaries:-

  • The Battle of Wakefield 1460. (An ITV Production in 1999)
  • The Battle of Stamford Bridge 1066. (An ITV Production in 2000)
  • Towton 1461. (A RKP Production for BBC 2010)
  • The History of the River Aire. (A RKP Production for BBC 2012) – features the Battle of Ferrybridge 1461

Notes
  1. Philip Haigh, Biographical details taken from the jacket cover of both the 'Military Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses', and also 'The Battle of Wakefield 1460'. Both Alan Sutton Publishing
  2. Philip Haigh, Details taken from a television interview aired on Yorkshire Television's 'Calendar' program broadcast in August 1997. Copies are available direct from Y.T.V
  3. Philip Haigh, I.T. career details taken from Haigh's Linkedin web page
  4. Battlefields Trust Quarterly Newsletter, Details of the Battlefields Trust 'journal'
  5. Yorkshire Evening Post, Magistrate appointments as detailed in the Yorkshire Evening Post in November 2008
  6. Book Details, ISBN 0-7509-0904-8 ISBN 978-0750909044
  7. Book Details, ISBN 0-7509-1342-8, ISBN 978-0-7509-1342-3
  8. Book Details, ISBN 0-9531213-0-5, ISBN 978-0-9531213-0-4
  9. Book Details, ISBN 1-85833-770-4 ISBN 978-1858337708
  10. Book Details, ISBN 0-85052-825-9 ISBN 978-0850528251
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