Biography
Born on 12 March 1958 in Christchurch, [1] Harper was trained as a secondary school teacher,earning a diploma in teaching from Christchurch Teachers' College in 1980. He then joined the University of Canterbury,graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981. After completing a Master of Arts degree the following year with a thesis on the Fall of Singapore,he moved to Australia,teaching at Catholic schools in New South Wales. [2]
In 1988,Harper joined the Australian Army in which he served for eight years before transferring to the New Zealand Army. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in 2001 from the University of New England with a thesis on Howard Kippenberger,a New Zealand general of the Second World War. [2] [3] Harper was the official historian for New Zealand's military deployment to East Timor from 1999 to 2001. He retired from the New Zealand Army in 2001 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He became a lecturer at Massey University in Palmerston North,and was made an associate professor in military studies the following year. In 2003 he was appointed director of the Centre for Defence Studies. [2] He was Professor of War Studies at Massey University until his retirement. [4]
Harper was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship in 2010 and carried out five months of research at the Virginia Military Institute and the US Army's War College on the Battle of Monte Cassino. This resulted in the publication of a book on this topic in 2013. [5]
In 2011,Harper became a project manager for the publication of the First World War Centenary Print Histories,a series of books on New Zealand's role in the First World War. He wrote one volume in the series,Johnny Enzed:The New Zealand Soldier in the First World War,which was published in 2015. [2] [6] In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours,in recognition of his services to historical research,Harper was awarded the Queen's Service Medal. [7]
As well as his non-fiction historical works for adults,Harper has written several children's picture books with military themes,including Le Quesnoy,Roly,the Anzac Donkey, [8] and Bobby the Littlest War Hero. [9] In 2015,he won the Best Picture Book Award at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for his book Jim's Letters,which was illustrated by Jenny Cooper. [10]
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