Speaker Simon Akam is a British journalist, and an historian of the British Army.
His controversial book The Changing of the Guard – The British Army since 9/11 was published in 2021 to widespread acclaim and was a Times Literary Supplement [TLS] Book of the Year, described as “a ‘state-of-the nation’ work of resounding power, deep conviction and far-reaching significance.” In a challenging piece of work that the Guardian also hailed as “the truth about the British Army,” Akam wrote of the institution’s role in the ultimate lack of victory in campaigns to overcome insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Simon’s work now appears in many other British and American publications, including the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Guardian, GQ, Outside, and Bloomberg Businessweek.