11 ratings | 0 reviews | avg rating:4.73

Zita Steele’s Followers (11)

Zita’s Bookshelves

to-read (0)
currently-reading (0)
read (111)

Zita’s Friends (3)

M.G. Haynes

80 books | 6 friends

Military Writers Society of America (MWSA)

849 books | 64 friends

F. Lester

62 books | 3 friends

Zita Steele

Goodreads Author

Born

Los Angeles, The United States

Website

https://zitasteele.com/

Twitter

zita_reports

Genre

Fiction, Nonfiction, History

Influences

Bernard Montgomery, Raymond Chandler, Alfred Tennyson, Upton Sinclair ...more

Member Since

February 2018

edit data

Zita Ballinger Fletcher is an award-winning author, editor and military historian. She is currently a Master’s Degree student of Military History. She writes fiction and nonfiction, has published more than 10 books, and writes military history articles and book reviews. She is also a photographer, graphic designer and video producer; she designs and illustrates her published books. She often writes using the creative pen name Zita Steele. Her areas of military history interest & research include the Vietnam War and World Wars I & II, with particular focus on Great Britain, Germany, and Eastern Europe.

Zita is fluent in German and became the author of the first published collection of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s wartime photography, a ground Zita Ballinger Fletcher is an award-winning author, editor and military historian. She is currently a Master’s Degree student of Military History. She writes fiction and nonfiction, has published more than 10 books, and writes military history articles and book reviews. She is also a photographer, graphic designer and video producer; she designs and illustrates her published books. She often writes using the creative pen name Zita Steele. Her areas of military history interest & research include the Vietnam War and World Wars I & II, with particular focus on Great Britain, Germany, and Eastern Europe.

Zita is fluent in German and became the author of the first published collection of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s wartime photography, a groundbreaking military history book series, which she first started working on after a visit to the U.S. National Archives when she was 15 years old. The first two books in the series were published in 2015, with a third and fourth volume released in years following. The series is ongoing.

Zita’s writing has appeared in many history publications including Military History magazine, Military History Quarterly (MHQ), World War II magazine, Vietnam magazine, the Bulletin of the Military Historical Society (U.K.), the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies, the Abraham Lincoln Association’s “For the People” newsletter, and others.

She is an experienced public speaker and has given numerous presentations about her academic research and military history topics for various groups.

She has been recognized with awards as a writer and editor. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) presented Zita with a Media and Entertainment Award in 2022 for her accomplishments in history publishing and videography. In 2022 she received a 2nd Place national award for Editing from the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), in addition to previous awards from NFPW for history writing and videos. In 2020, the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) awarded Zita a Silver Medal for History for her book “Bernard Montgomery’s Art of War,” and a Bronze Medal for Historical Fiction for her novel “The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt” – making Zita a winner in both nonfiction and fiction categories.

She has also been recognized for outstanding academic achievements. Zita won her first award as an artist in 1996, coming in 3rd Place in a statewide art competition. She became a district Spelling Bee champion at age 13 in 2004 and received a National Merit Scholarship Commendation in 2009. She received a Magna Cum Laude degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences from the University of South Florida in 2013, where she attended the Honors College for academically gifted students.

Zita has done military history research in person at numerous museums and historic institutions in the U.S. and abroad, including:

• The Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg
• The Nuremberg Trials Memorial
• The Museum of Military History in Vienna, Austria
• The Smithsonian National Museum of American History
• The Topography of Terror (Gestapo Museum) in Berlin
• The Munich Stadtmuseum
• Numerous battlefields, forts and war memorials

Zita was named after Empress Zita of Austria, the wife of the last Habsburg emperor, Karl I, by her mother who was inspired by the empress’s courage described in a 1989 obituary. Later on, Zita was impressed by the life story of her namesake’s husband, Karl I of Austria. Both Karl and his wife Zita have been an inspiration to her and an important part of her life, which she has described in a book she wrote about Karl.

Zita’s passion in life has always been military history. “One of the main reasons I love military history is because it is filled with courage, leadership and self-sacrifice. I like to learn about feats of bravery and strength. There is also a lot of warmth and humor among soldiers. I admire stories of brotherhood and great ...more

20 posts
Zita Steele's Blog: Zita's Author Insights

Exploring the Secrets of Steel Plate Armor

MHQ takes a cold hard look at steel plate armor as showcased by the Vienna Art History Museum’s “Fashion in Steel” exhibit. Read my article here: https://www.historynet.com/what-made-...

1 like · Like • 1 comment • flag

Published on March 16, 2023 12:53 • Tags: armor, history, medieval, military, myths, renaissance, technology, war

View all 20 posts »

Combine Editions
Zita Steele’s books

Average rating: 3.1 · 29 ratings · 7 reviews · 16 distinct works

	Bernard Montgomery's Art of War by Zita Steele (Goodreads Author), Bernard Law Montgomery 3.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Erwin Rommel: Photographer: Vol. 4, Personal Encounters by Zita Steele (Goodreads Author), Erwin Rommel (Photographer) 3.60 avg rating — 5 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Envoy: Rule of Silence liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Erwin Rommel: Photographer - Volume 1: A Survey liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Erwin Rommel Photographer: Vol. 3, Adventures in Color by Zita Steele (Goodreads Author), Erwin Rommel (Photographer, Illustrator) 2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blessed Karl of Austria: Real Reasons for his Sainthood 2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Erwin Rommel First War:: A New Look at Infantry Attacks by Zita Steele (Goodreads Author), Erwin Rommel it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dine: A Tribute to the Navajo People did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ruthless Shadow did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Zita Steele…

Quotes by Zita Steele (?)

“The whiskered goddess had two natures; as Sekhmet the lioness, she was a mighty queen of sun-fire and war, and a harbinger of raw spiritual powers. As Bast the cat, she was the gentle bringer of love and domestic joy.”
― Zita Steele, The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt

tags: afterlife, cat, egypt, fiction, goddess, gods, lion, world-war-2

5 likes

“She decided at that very moment that he had completely stolen her heart.”
― Zita Steele, The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt

tags: egypt, love, romance, soldier, world-war-2

2 likes

“Nobody can predict how successful you are going to be in life. Only you will find that out through your own choices. Give yourself a chance to make those choices for the right reasons, and chances are success will find you.”
― Zita Steele, Guide to Free Thinking: Stories & Life Lessons

tags: choices-and-consequences, life, philosophy, success

1 likes

See all Zita Steele's quotes »

Zita’s Quotes

“As a young man, Montgomery was noted by his superiors for his strong abilities as an analyst. He began the war in 1914 as a Lieutenant leading a platoon of 30 men. Within only four years, he had become the Chief of Staff of a division by age 30.”
― Zita Steele, Bernard Montgomery's Art of War

tags: bernard, field, marshal, montgomery

1 likes

“High morale implies essentially the ability to triumph over discomforts and dangers and carry on with the job.”
― Bernard Law Montgomery, Bernard Montgomery's Art of War

tags: bernard, field, marshal, montgomery, war, zita-steele

0 likes

“She decided at that very moment that he had completely stolen her heart.”
― Zita Steele, The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt

tags: egypt, love, romance, soldier, world-war-2

2 likes

“One woman appeared everywhere. A barefoot, black-haired beauty in robes of white. She wore strange horned crowns—feathers of gold sprouted from her forehead. The walls told her story. She played board games with the animal-headed monsters, bowed to jackal-faced men and danced among winged serpents. Sunrays enveloped her figure. Her beady white eyes stared from all surfaces. No corner of the underground maze was free of her strange spell.”
― Zita Steele, The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt

tags: ancient, egypt, fiction, goddess, history, world-war-2

0 likes

“The ancient and the modern blended together in haunting harmony. The war looked like a dream here; a fantasy dwarfed by the sands of time.”
― Zita Steele, The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt

tags: ancient, egypt, history, middle-east, military, sands, time, war, world-war-2

0 likes

More of Zita’s quotes…

Zita’s Friend Comments

No comments have been added yet.