Mr Dave Watson

Dave Watson was born in Liverpool and has been based in Scotland for the last thirty-four years.

He is the editor of the Balkan Military History website, which has been covering the military history of the Balkans for over 27 years. He has written for many magazines, journals, and online publications. His publications can be found on the website.

He is the author of HMS Ambuscade: 1746 to the Present Day (BMH, 2024), Cyprus 1974: A Wargamers Guide (BMH, 2024), Ripped Apart: The Cyprus Crisis 1963-64 (Helion, 2023), The Frontier Sea: The Napoleonic Wars in the Adriatic (BMH, 2023), and Chasing the Soft Underbelly: Turkey and the Second World War (Helion, 2023). In addition, he is a contributing author to the books A New Scotland (Pluto, 2022), What Would Keir Hardie Say? (Luath, 2015), Keir Hardie and the 21st Century Socialist Revival (Luath, 2019), and several other current affairs books and publications.

Dave graduated in Scots Law from the University of Strathclyde, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He retired in 2018 from his post as Head of Policy and Public Affairs at UNISON Scotland and now works part-time as a policy consultant and Director of the think tank The Jimmy Reid Foundation.

His passions include wargaming, travel and golf. He is the secretary of Glasgow and District Wargaming Society—one of the UK’s longest-running wargame clubs. You can also follow Dave on Twitter @Balkan_Dave.