Barney White-Spunner is a British author and military historian.
After a career in the army spanning more than thirty years, Barney retired in 2011 as Commander of the Field Army. He was appointed Executive Chairman of the Countryside Alliance in 2012 and in 2016 became the Director of Burstock Ltd. As of 2018 he is also the Chairman of the Advisory Board for UK Fisheries.
Barney was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002 and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in Queen Elizabeth II’s 2011 Birthday Honours list. He is an Honorary Legionnaire in the French Foreign Legion; holds the Hungarian Knights Cross and is a member of the United States Order of Merit.
With a passion for the countryside and the issues facing rural life, Barney began writing for The Field magazine in 1992. Publications include Horse Guards (2006), a military history of the Household Cavalry; Of Living Valour (2015), the story of the soldiers at Waterloo and Partition: The Story of Indian Independence in 1947, published in 2017 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Indian independence. His most recent work is Berlin: The Story of a City which was published in 2020 by Simon & Schuster.
Married with three children and too many animals, Barney lives in Dorset.
