He has presented historical documentaries for the BBC and is the author of many books, including "Bomber Command", which earned the Somerset Maugham Award for non-fiction in 1980. Both "Overlord" and "The Battle for the Falklands" won the "Yorkshire Post" "Book of the Year" prize. He was named "Journalist of the Year" and "Reporter of the Year" at the 1982 British Press Awards, and "Editor of the Year" in 1988. In 2010 he received the Royal United Services Institute's "Westminster Medal" for his "lifelong contribution to military literature", and the same year the Edgar Wallace Award from the London Press Club.