Richard Overy is a British historian who has written extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich. In 2007 as the Times editor of Complete History of the World, he chose the 50 key dates of world history. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the British Academy, and King's College. In 2001 he was awarded the Samuel Elliot Morison Prize of the Society for Military History for his contributions to the history of warfare. In 2004 he was appointed professor of history at the University of Exeter. He has written over 30 books on World War II, including Why the Allies Won and 1939: Countdown to War. His work on World War II has been praised as "highly effective (in) the ruthless dispelling of myths" (A.J.

P. Taylor), "original and important" (New York Review of Books) and "at the cutting edge" (Times Literary Supplement.).