Mark Urban
@markurban.bsky.social
Host @crisisroompod.bsky.social writes for Sunday Times, ex-BBC guy covering war & peace + sometime Newsnight presenter 1990-2024, IWM trustee, author Big Boys Rules, Generals, Rifles, Task Force Black, The Tank War, Skripal Files, Red Devils, Tank & more!
Thoroughly enjoying this at the moment 👇🏻
November 3, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Thoroughly enjoying this at the moment 👇🏻
Oh what’s this? A secret Cabinet Office file about my book Big Boys’ Rules?! I’ll be revealing what’s inside it in tomorrow’s Sunday Times
September 27, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Oh what’s this? A secret Cabinet Office file about my book Big Boys’ Rules?! I’ll be revealing what’s inside it in tomorrow’s Sunday Times
I share his story, which is one stitch in a tableau of loss, because his idealism touched me, and his story is a corrective to preconceptions many may have about Ukraine, its war, & who fights. I offer my sincere condolences to his widow Anna
August 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
I share his story, which is one stitch in a tableau of loss, because his idealism touched me, and his story is a corrective to preconceptions many may have about Ukraine, its war, & who fights. I offer my sincere condolences to his widow Anna
Davyd was killed last week on the southern front. He didn’t have to go, his health was fragile. He volunteered long after the early patriotic fervour that greeted the Russian invasion had subsided. He genuinely sacrificed his life for his beliefs
August 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Davyd was killed last week on the southern front. He didn’t have to go, his health was fragile. He volunteered long after the early patriotic fervour that greeted the Russian invasion had subsided. He genuinely sacrificed his life for his beliefs
He was an ardent antifascist and was pleased to find an artillery unit near Zaporizhzhia where a good many fellow anarchists and others with radical political views were serving. Of course there are far right people in the army too, there are all sorts, it’s a nation in arms
August 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
He was an ardent antifascist and was pleased to find an artillery unit near Zaporizhzhia where a good many fellow anarchists and others with radical political views were serving. Of course there are far right people in the army too, there are all sorts, it’s a nation in arms
Davyd suffered poor health so the army turned him away when he tried to volunteer soon after the Russian invasion. In his impoverished artists flat, he told me how he had got fit because he realised the military couldn’t get enough soldiers, & decided to volunteer again, 2 years later
August 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Davyd suffered poor health so the army turned him away when he tried to volunteer soon after the Russian invasion. In his impoverished artists flat, he told me how he had got fit because he realised the military couldn’t get enough soldiers, & decided to volunteer again, 2 years later
Passers by in Kyiv may have noticed an unusual funeral for a fallen soldier yesterday. The mourners were a bohemian crowd, and anarchist flags were flown. Davyd Chychkan, a 39 year old artist was laid to rest. Why was he at war? He’d explained his reasons to me 18 months ago
August 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Passers by in Kyiv may have noticed an unusual funeral for a fallen soldier yesterday. The mourners were a bohemian crowd, and anarchist flags were flown. Davyd Chychkan, a 39 year old artist was laid to rest. Why was he at war? He’d explained his reasons to me 18 months ago
Quite a moment yesterday - I was invested as an honorary doctor of letters at Warwick University by the chancellor Bience Gawanas, having been proposed by Prof Richard Aldrich. He cited my books in particular. What a privilege to share in the graduation ceremony& happiness of that day!
July 19, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Quite a moment yesterday - I was invested as an honorary doctor of letters at Warwick University by the chancellor Bience Gawanas, having been proposed by Prof Richard Aldrich. He cited my books in particular. What a privilege to share in the graduation ceremony& happiness of that day!
A heavy battering for Kyiv last night after Russia launched >500 Shahed/Geran drones:
- they’re overwhelming with numbers, production of these now c170 a day
- they’ve also built in new guidance features + fly higher to evade Ukrainian defences
- many launches are decoys
- they’re overwhelming with numbers, production of these now c170 a day
- they’ve also built in new guidance features + fly higher to evade Ukrainian defences
- many launches are decoys
July 4, 2025 at 8:16 AM
A heavy battering for Kyiv last night after Russia launched >500 Shahed/Geran drones:
- they’re overwhelming with numbers, production of these now c170 a day
- they’ve also built in new guidance features + fly higher to evade Ukrainian defences
- many launches are decoys
- they’re overwhelming with numbers, production of these now c170 a day
- they’ve also built in new guidance features + fly higher to evade Ukrainian defences
- many launches are decoys
The first customer reviews are in on my new book 'Tank'! check it out at any of these stores linktr.ee/MarkUrbanTank
June 30, 2025 at 10:28 AM
The first customer reviews are in on my new book 'Tank'! check it out at any of these stores linktr.ee/MarkUrbanTank
Last metric in choosing my 10 greatest tanks is popularity - measured in terms of export success - which brings us to arguably Britain's best ever tank design
June 14, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Last metric in choosing my 10 greatest tanks is popularity - measured in terms of export success - which brings us to arguably Britain's best ever tank design
Part 3 here of how I choose the 10 greatest tanks in military history for my new book. We've had innovation and lethality, let's talk quantity!
June 11, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Part 3 here of how I choose the 10 greatest tanks in military history for my new book. We've had innovation and lethality, let's talk quantity!
choosing those top ten tanks of military history - yesterday I posted that innovation was the first criterion. Here's the second
June 10, 2025 at 10:22 AM
choosing those top ten tanks of military history - yesterday I posted that innovation was the first criterion. Here's the second
My new book Tank is out! t.co/TjxZPTAPZK It tells the story of this weapon through the ten greatest examples of the past 100+ years. But how to choose those top ten tanks?
June 9, 2025 at 11:40 AM
My new book Tank is out! t.co/TjxZPTAPZK It tells the story of this weapon through the ten greatest examples of the past 100+ years. But how to choose those top ten tanks?
Is the tank obsolete? It's a question almost as old as the weapon itself - my new book tracing the history of these war machines from Cambrai to Ukraine is now out linktr.ee/MarkUrbanTank
June 5, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Is the tank obsolete? It's a question almost as old as the weapon itself - my new book tracing the history of these war machines from Cambrai to Ukraine is now out linktr.ee/MarkUrbanTank
Copies of my new book Tank are now arriving in bookshops - from the trenches of 1917 Cambrai to today’s Ukraine, your essential Father’s Day gift!
June 4, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Copies of my new book Tank are now arriving in bookshops - from the trenches of 1917 Cambrai to today’s Ukraine, your essential Father’s Day gift!
A little gobsmacked by this - No1 on Apple pods on our launch weekend for @crisisroompod.bsky.social which I co-host with Amber Rudd & @mpolymer1.bsky.social decoding international security developments weekly - sign up wherever you get your podcasts
May 31, 2025 at 5:24 PM
A little gobsmacked by this - No1 on Apple pods on our launch weekend for @crisisroompod.bsky.social which I co-host with Amber Rudd & @mpolymer1.bsky.social decoding international security developments weekly - sign up wherever you get your podcasts
A hearty recommendation for my new book Tank - thank you so much Bob. Published early June but you can preorder in all the usual places!
May 16, 2025 at 10:14 AM
A hearty recommendation for my new book Tank - thank you so much Bob. Published early June but you can preorder in all the usual places!
Lord George Robertson says the Strategic Defence Review which he has spent the last 9 months working on “will intimidate our enemies and inspire our friends” when it is published in the coming weeks #LDC2025
May 8, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Lord George Robertson says the Strategic Defence Review which he has spent the last 9 months working on “will intimidate our enemies and inspire our friends” when it is published in the coming weeks #LDC2025
Very pleased to say my new substack War and Peace blog passed 1000 subscribers at the weekend. It's still free and the place where I do longer stuff these days.
May 6, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Very pleased to say my new substack War and Peace blog passed 1000 subscribers at the weekend. It's still free and the place where I do longer stuff these days.
Sitting down today to start reading the audiobook of Tank today - it’s out in June, a history of the war machine told through ten examples
April 24, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Sitting down today to start reading the audiobook of Tank today - it’s out in June, a history of the war machine told through ten examples
When launching a trade war, turns out allies are useful. Trump hits China with a further tariff rise but pauses hikes on 75 other countries for 90 days
April 9, 2025 at 5:45 PM
When launching a trade war, turns out allies are useful. Trump hits China with a further tariff rise but pauses hikes on 75 other countries for 90 days
Trump is starting the conversation about a third term, even though the Constitution rules it out
March 30, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Trump is starting the conversation about a third term, even though the Constitution rules it out
Here it is! The new book I’ve been working on - it will be out in June. An alternative history of the tank from its origins to the present day
February 13, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Here it is! The new book I’ve been working on - it will be out in June. An alternative history of the tank from its origins to the present day
Given the news about the Northern Ireland SAS inquest, a reminder that the audiobook of Big Boys' Rules is now out. Delighted that Amazon's algorithm considers it a #1 bestseller, even if it isn't a WW1 biography...
February 7, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Given the news about the Northern Ireland SAS inquest, a reminder that the audiobook of Big Boys' Rules is now out. Delighted that Amazon's algorithm considers it a #1 bestseller, even if it isn't a WW1 biography...