Mark Felton

Mark Paul Felton FRHistS
Born	1974 (age 50–51) Colchester, Essex, England
Education	Philip Morant School Anglia Polytechnic University (BA) University of Essex (PGCert, MA, PhD)
Occupation(s)	YouTuber, writer, historian
Years active	2005–present
Organization	Royal British Legion part-time volunteer (2010–2014)
Notable work	YouTube channel Mark Felton Productions and Zero Night
Television	Combat Trains Top Tens of Warfare Evolution of Evil
YouTube information
Channels	Mark Felton Productions War Stories with Mark Felton
Years active	2017–present
Genre	History
Subscribers	2.24 million [1]
Views	900 million [1]
Last updated: 27 January 2025
Website	markfelton.co.uk

Mark Paul Felton (born 1974) is a British YouTuber, writer, and historian. Felton has written non-fiction books with titles including phrases such as "Stirring Stories", "Devil's Doctors", and "Dramatic Escapes". He is a YouTuber with channels on 20th and 21st century topics, mainly related to World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. Felton has taught at the University of Essex and at some Chinese universities. He has also appeared on pay TV channels as a pundit. In 2014, he put out Zero Night , a book about an escape from a prisoner of war camp.

Early life and education

Felton was born in 1974 in Colchester, Essex. ^[2] He attended a local non-selective comprehensive school, Philip Morant School. ^[3] Felton sat for a BA degree in history and English at Anglia Polytechnic University. He also holds a postgraduate certificate in political science, an MA in Native American studies, and a PhD in history, all from the University of Essex. ^[4]

Career

Felton taught at the University of Essex and worked in a junior role at the local Colchester facility of the former Benefits Agency (UK social security agency) before moving to China for nine years, where he was a part-time English teacher at Shanghai University and Fudan University. ^{[5] [3] [6]} He was a volunteer for the Royal British Legion in Shanghai, helping to organise Poppy Appeals from 2010 to 2014. ^{[7] [8]} Staff at the British Consulate in Shanghai and Felton were involved in identifying gravestones of British soldiers killed by Japanese military personnel in 1937. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Felton has appeared on television as a pundit, including in a show about trains called Combat Trains on the pay TV History Channel, and in a "rogues' gallery" show called Evolution of Evil on the pay TV American Heroes Channel. ^{[12] [13]} His book Zero Night was about an escape from a German prisoner of war camp; ^{[14] [15] [16]} it was mentioned in a 30 minute BBC Radio Cambridgeshire local radio show. ^[17] Zero Night was optioned in 2016 by Essential Media for film development. ^{[18] [3]} In 2016, Felton's book Castle of the Eagles: Escape from Mussolini's Colditz, which concerns the escape of British soldiers from Vincigliata Castle near Florence in 1943, was optioned for film development by Entertainment One. ^[19] Despite these film option deals, these films have so far failed to be released.

In October 2017, Felton started a YouTube show, titled Mark Felton Productions, which covers various 20th century topics.^{[ citation needed ]}

In October 2019, Center Street released his Operation Swallow: American Soldiers' Remarkable Escape From Berga Concentration Camp, which covers illegal mistreatment by German personnel of US prisoners of war in Nazi captivity in the Battle of the Bulge. For the book, Felton referred to documents and witness accounts. ^[20]

Personal life

Felton lives in Norwich with his wife and son. ^{[21] [22]}

Selected publications

• Felton, Mark (2005). Yanagi: The Secret Underwater Trade between Germany and Japan 1942-1945. Pen & Sword. ISBN   978-1844151677.
• Felton, Mark (August 2007). Pen and Sword Books: The Fujita Plan – Hardback. Pen and Sword Books. ISBN   9781844154807.
• Felton, Mark (2007). Slaughter at Sea: The Story of Japan's Naval War Crimes. Pen & Sword. ISBN   978-1-84415-647-4.
• Felton, Mark (2009). "The History Press – Today is a Good Day to Fight".
• Felton, Mark (2009). The Real Tenko: Extraordinary True Stories of Women Prisoners of the Japanese. Pen & Sword.
• Felton, Mark (2010). 21st Century Courage: Stirring Stories of Modern British Heroes. Pen & Sword. ISBN   978-1-84884-073-7.
• Felton, Mark (2012). The Devil's Doctors: Japanese Human Experiments on Allied Prisoners-of-War. Pen & Sword. ISBN   978-0-19-106297-1.
• Felton, Mark (5 June 2013). Never Surrender: Dramatic Escapes from Japanese Prison Campsyear=2013. Pen & Sword Military. ISBN   978-1-78159-022-5.
• Felton, Mark (2 September 2013). China Station: The British Military in the Middle Kingdom 1839–1997. Pen and Sword Books. ISBN   978-1-78159-069-0.
• Felton, Mark (2015). "The Perfect Storm: Japanese Military Brutality in World War II". In C. Carmichael; R. Maguire (eds.). Routledge History of Genocide. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315719054. ISBN   9781315719054.
• Felton, Mark (2016). Holocaust Heroes: Resistance to Hitler's Final Solution. Pen & Sword. ISBN   9781783400577.
• Felton, Mark (2017). Castle of the Eagles: Escape from Mussolini's Colditz. Icon Books.
• Felton, Mark (2019). Operation Swallow: American Soldiers Remarkable Escape from Berga Concentration Camp. Center Street. ISBN   978-1-5460-7643-8.

References

1. "About Mark Felton Productions". YouTube.
2. "About Mark". 3 September 2017. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
3. "Silver screen comes calling for Colchester author". Gazette. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
4. "Dr Mark Felton: Biography". Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
5. "Shanghai surprise". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
6. Jeffs, Clare (1 August 2012). "Author's appeal for books bound for university in China". The Echo. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
7. "Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal Shanghai 2013 launches". That's Online. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
8. "Shanghai surprise". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
9. "Lost graves of four Ulster heroes who fell in China found". Belfast Telegraph . Retrieved 9 May 2016.
10. "HMS Daring – British Graves found in Shanghai". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
11. "British soldiers' graves honoured in Shanghai cemetery". BBC News. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
12. "Combat Trains". RadioTimes. Retrieved 6 May 2016.^{[ dead link ]}
13. "Tojo Fuels the Fire of Hatred and Savagery". American Heroes Channel . Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
14. Schneider, Edward (28 August 2015). "An Over-the-Top Escape Plan". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 26 April 2016.
15. "El piloto británico sin piernas que causaba pavor a los cazas nazis". ABC (in Spanish). 7 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
16. Bandyopadhyay, Somshankar (23 September 2015). "Zero Night review: Flight to freedom". Gulf News . Retrieved 26 April 2016.
17. "BBC Radio Cambridgeshire – BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Special, Three Minutes Of Mayhem". BBC. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
18. "Hollywood To Tell Tale of Annbspeven Greater Escape by Allied POW's" . The Australian . Retrieved 15 May 2016.
19. Author is 'bowled over' by a second Hollywood deal, East Anglian Daily Times , 28 October 2016
20. "Operation Swallow - REVIEW". Litercurious.com. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
21. Clapp, Iris (28 September 2007). "Shanghai is full of nice surprises for Mark". Daily Gazette . Retrieved 14 March 2024.
22. City author's history books transfer to the big screen, Norwich Evening News , 4 November 2016

External links

• Official website