Writing this overlooking the River Thames from my apartment, looking back over the year so far – including the launch of my second full-length book “The Next World War” and the remarkable success of the audiobook version in particular, as well as wild global events and an unexpected spell in hospital.
Obviously, I’m still processing exactly what that means – and what it opens up. Both 2026 and Chinese Year of the Fire Horse are now firmly underway, and I am back where I belong overlooking a misty, rainy but not yet stormy river. As the African proverb goes, “I am fine if you are fine” – but for the wider world at least, this already feels a year of living dangerously.
Time for a quick confession: as those who watch my Reuters output closely may have already guessed, a temporary hospitalisation from the end of February means I have missed most of the first few weeks of Trump’s Operation EPIC FURY strikes against Iran and the wider mayhem that has followed.
Perhaps because of that, the new book is performing well and more or less exactly as intended – and the audiobook has done remarkably, seizing the bestselling UK military history title in a matter of days after its late-January launch while also dominating the 21st-century history section on Audible/Amazon. That’s a very pleasing metric for someone like me far from a household name, not least because it suggests it is reaching exactly the audience I wanted, at least within the UK market, with the US hardback now scheduled to follow shortly in mid-May.
I suspect it is also a rather flattering validation of both the book and my own growl-heavy personal narration – if occasionally dodgy US and European accents – as well as the fact that many service personnel and busy others tend to listen in the gym, driving and at other active moments much more than they can find time to sit down and read.
Early reviews have also been almost all extremely positive, with the Telegraph Battlelines team describing it as extremely thoroughly sourced and me as one of the “best connected people in defence”. LBC presenter Iain Dale described it as “a truly excellent new book… a gripping tour de force… that every politician, whatever their party allegiance, needs to read.” (I am obviously intensely curious about the gender split of my readers and listeners so far – feel free to get in touch and tell me where you fall and why).
I’m now out and back to my normal near-total independence, already rescheduling my life and specifically looking to take stock in a way I haven’t had the chance since just after the pandemic. Indeed, I haven’t been in hospital this long since my initial injury back in 2006.
When I first started using this website for something other than political campaigning, I promised myself I would write more on the disability, the complexities of life balancing my values, needs and drives as well as the technology, skills and character of my situation. I haven’t done as much of that as I might like: certainly not as much as I did in a couple of posts just following the pandemic. (I blush slightly to reread this – albeit not a lot – but I now noticed that as well as writing an article on my sex life for a national newspaper I also used this blog to advertise my availability for casual sex… which worked almost immediately with some quite amazing women. I am now if anything even more adventurous – in some ways more confident, in always more experienced – hoping for something more truly committed with the right remarkable woman as and when they finally choose to hunt or pin me down).
More importantly and perhaps equally viscerally when it comes to my ongoing personal priorities, we are now almost three complete months into 2026 – well, two and a half to be precise – and the year feels like it is charging ahead like a warhorse at full gallop, with me now hanging on by my teeth for dear life as I start once again to regain my own control and agency.
As those who have encountered me on interviews, podcasts or in person will have heard me say, the reason my new book is called “The Next World War” is not because I want one. As the subtitle “The new age of global conflict and the fight to stop it” is intended to make clear, the battle to keep at least a relative peace is now firmly on for both this country and the world and it needs a wide range and large number of committed volunteers – whatever that might mean.
History, as I put it in my TEDx talk, really isn’t over – in fact it is speeding up.
Like I said, I’m out of hospital now and my normal journalistic work should hopefully resume with a Reuters column on Friday, a new episode of the British Army Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research podcast FACING COMING STORMS as soon as possible and some more writing for UK and other media to promote the book. I’m also planning my next travel – most likely Tampa, Florida for May and Special Operations Forces Week with all that comes with that and then hopefully back to Australia and the Pacific later in 2026.
As always, I’m open to a variety of discussions and collaborations all of the above, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch through the contact form above.