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Humphrey Hawksley

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Humphrey Hawksley

Goodreads Author


Born
in Woodbridge, The United Kingdom
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October 2008

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Humphrey is an award-winning author, podcaster and journalist whose assignments with the BBC have taken him to crises all over the world. The three books in his future history series -- Dragonstrike, Dragonfire and The Third World War -- have been praised as authentic, catastrophic scenarios which begin with a Chinese strike in the South China Sea. His Rake Ozenna espionage thriller series is set in the Arctic and High North, beginning with Man on Ice and a Russian invasion of the Alaskan island of Little Diomede. Rake is an island native and a special forces veteran with the Alaska National Guard. The late, great Nelson de Mille applauded Rake as being smart and tough, 'and we’re glad to have him on our side.' Humphrey's non-fiction work i ...more

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Humphrey Hawksley I am structuring the third in the Rake Ozenna series www.manonice.co.uk and working on the promotion of the paperback of MAN ON ICE and the forthcomin…moreI am structuring the third in the Rake Ozenna series www.manonice.co.uk and working on the promotion of the paperback of MAN ON ICE and the forthcoming hardback of MAN ON EDGE. Developments in Asia also keep me busy with a articles about China, Taiwan and Hong Kong www.humphreyhawksley.com/journalism (less)
Humphrey Hawksley Back in 2014, when Russia was enmeshing Ukraine in a new civil war, I opened an old Times Atlas that I keep in my study to find an interesting place t…moreBack in 2014, when Russia was enmeshing Ukraine in a new civil war, I opened an old Times Atlas that I keep in my study to find an interesting place to go, one that could tell the story of rising U.S.-Russian tension, but not where everyone else was traveling.

My eyes drifted over dog-eared pages of the atlas until they settled far away on the Bering Strait where Russia and America actually shared a border, where former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was mocked when she said Americans could see Russia from Alaska.

In the middle of the Bering Strait are two islands, barely two miles apart. One, Big Diomede, hosts a Russian military base. The other, Little Diomede, is a settlement of less than hundred Eskimo villagers, living in one of the most remote and hostile environments of the world. Without doubt, this had to be my destination.

From the air, as the helicopter descended through fog, these rival islands appeared like sentinels keeping vigil over a vast, empty expanse. On the ground, stilted buildings clung to a steep hillside washed with a blue-gray hue contrasted by the helipad’s orange windsock, stretched horizontal in a fierce wind. I worked with a talented Indian video photographer www.poulomibasu.com and because of bad weather we stayed more than a week, every morning getting up and, just like Sarah Palin had described, seeing Russia from Alaska.

Astonishingly, this frontier between two superpowers was unmarked, no border posts, no buoys in the water, no national flags on either island; on Little Diomede, no state troopers, no police, no government presence and, when the helicopter flew off, no way of leaving.

Across the water on the ridges of Big Diomede we could see Russian military watch towers. This was far too special to leave to a single BBC report. It begged for a thriller because the only one I knew that touched on this border was Lionel Davidson’s brilliant Kolymsky Heights published in 1994.

What would happen, I asked myself, if the Russians crossed over and put up their flag. From that I created Rake Ozenna of the Alaska National Guard, a tough native of Little Diomede and his kick-ass fiancé, trauma surgeon Dr Carrie Walker, raising another question as to whether things would ever quiet down enough, both around and between them, to make the relationship work.

The book is Man on Ice was released in paperback in October and its sequel with many of the sam characters is due out in the UK November 29th and North America March 1st 2020. (less)
Average rating: 3.84 · 1,832 ratings · 262 reviews · 29 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Third World War

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Dragon Fire: The Realistic ...

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Asian Waters: The Struggle ...

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Man on Ice (Rake Ozenna Thr...

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Democracy Kills

3.82 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2009 — 6 editions
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Man on Fire (Rake Ozenna Th...

4.15 avg rating — 67 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions
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Man on Edge (Rake Ozenna Th...

4.11 avg rating — 65 ratings — published 2007 — 7 editions
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Ice Islands (Rake Ozenna Th...

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Red Spirit

3.37 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 2001 — 7 editions
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Security Breach

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The Democracy Forum Live Webinar

The Democracy Forum and TDF President Lord Bruce invite you to attend an online debate, ‘Countering weaponisation of the US dollar in global trade’ on Wednesday November 26th, 2025 from 14:00 to 15:00 UK time (GMT).

Chair:

Humphrey Hawksley, Author & former BBC Asia Correspondent

Panellists:

Prof. Harold James, Claude and Lore Kelly Professor in European Studies, Princeton University; Profess Read more of this blog post »
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GENOCIDE : Person...
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The Democracy Forum Live Webinar

The Democracy Forum and TDF President Lord Bruce invite you to attend an online debate, ‘Countering weaponisation of the US dollar in global trade’ on Read more of this blog post »
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Quotes by Humphrey Hawksley  (?)
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“But military rule destroys the imagination of the people. Science, arts, the ingredients of a great civilization cannot flourish from the barrel of a gun.”
Humphrey Hawksley, The Third World War: A Terrifying Novel of Global Conflict

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