Byron Farwell facts for kids
.png)
Byron Edgar Farwell (born June 20, 1921 – died August 3, 1999) was an American military historian, a writer who created biographies of famous people, and a politician. He served as the mayor of Hillsboro, Virginia, for three terms. He also worked for a big company called Chrysler. Farwell wrote 14 books and many articles for national magazines.
Contents
About Byron Farwell
Byron Farwell was born in Manchester, Iowa, on June 20, 1921. He went to college at Ohio State University and the University of Chicago.
Early Life and Military Service
Farwell served as a captain in the army during World War II. He also fought in the Korean War. After seven years of active duty, he left the military.
Life as a Civilian and Mayor
Byron Farwell was married to Ruth, and they had three children. After leaving the military, he worked for Chrysler from 1954 to 1971. For many years, he was a director in their office in Geneva. During the 1960s, he lived in Switzerland and London.
From 1976 to 1982, he was the mayor of Hillsboro, Virginia. He served three terms. He tried to get re-elected for a fourth term, but the vote was a tie (17–17). The winner was chosen in a very unusual way: from a punch bowl! As mayor, Farwell was known for sometimes disagreeing with the state and national governments. This included topics like counting the population or health rules. He was paid $50 a year for being mayor.
A Prolific Writer
Farwell wrote articles for many well-known publications. These included The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harper's Magazine, American Heritage, and Smithsonian Magazine. He also helped edit magazines like Military History and World War II, and he contributed to Collier's Encyclopedia.
He was a member of important groups like the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Literature. Farwell also helped manage a historic house called the Oatlands mansion. He passed away on August 3, 1999, from a heart attack, in a hospital in Loudoun County, Virginia. His writings and important documents are now kept at the University of Iowa.
He wrote 14 books. Some of his famous books include The Man Who Presumed: A Biography of Henry M. Stanley (1957), Burton: A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1963), The Gurkhas (1984), and Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917-1918 (1999).
Books by Byron Farwell
Byron Farwell wrote many books, covering different topics. Here are some of them:
- Let's Take a Trip in Our Car [children's book] (1954)
- Walter P. Chrysler (1957)
- The Man Who Presumed: A Biography of Henry M. Stanley (1957)ISBN: 978-0393306293
- Burton: A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton (1963)
- Prisoners of the Mahdi (1967) ISBN: 978-0393305791
- Queen Victoria's Little Wars (1972) ISBN: 0-060-11222-0
- Mr. Kipling's Army (1981) ISBN: 0-393-01386-3
- The Gurkhas (1984) ISBN: 0-393-01773-7
- Eminent Victorian Soldiers: Seekers of Glory (1985) ISBN: 0-393-01884-9
- The Great War in Africa, 1914–1918 (1986) ISBN: 0-393-02369-9
- Armies of the Raj: from the Mutiny to Independence, 1858-1947 (1989) ISBN: 0-393-02679-5
- The Great Anglo-Boer War (1990) ISBN: 0-060-11204-2
- Ball's Bluff: A Small Battle and Its Long Shadow (1990), McLean, Virginia: EPM Publications; ISBN: 0-939009-36-6.
- Stonewall: A Biography of General Thomas J. Jackson (1992) ISBN: 0-393-31086-8
- Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917-1918 (1999)
