Mike Bechthold holds a PhD in History from the University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia and an MA & Honours BA from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Mike is the author or editor of eight books and numerous articles. His most recent book is Flying to Victory: Raymond Collishaw and the Western Desert Campaign (University of Oklahoma Press, 2017) and he is the co-author of a series of guidebooks about the Canadian battlefields of the Second World. He specializes in the fields of military air power (especially tactical air operations in the First and Second World Wars), the Canadian army in Normandy and Northwest Europe, and the Canadian Corps in the Great War. For 22 years Mike worked as the Communications Director of the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies and the Managing Editor of Canadian Military History, an academic quarterly journal. Mike is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Fellow of the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick, and an Associate Air Force Historian. He recently served as the Executive Director of the Juno Beach Centre Association.
What People Say
“Mike Bechthold’s scholarship is first rate: thoroughly researched, conceptually strong, and wonderfully well written. His cartography combines those skill with a draughtsman’s eye for clarity and detail, and an historian’s sense for what is needed by the user. All of these skills – writing, editing, design and map-making, as well as an encyclopedic knowledge of the field – were honed by his years as managing editor of Canadian Military History. Bechthold is one of Canada’s finest historians, and unquestionably the finest military cartographer working in Canada today.”
Marc Milner, PhD, Professor of History (ret’d), Former Director, The Gregg Centre, UNB
“Mike Bechthold is the best in the business when it comes to military maps and graphics. His maps are always clear, accurate, and easy-to-understand. I know I can always count on Mike to produce exactly what I need.”
Douglas E. Delaney, PhD, author of The Imperial Army Project (OUP, 2017) and co-author of Capturing Hill 70 (UBC Press, 2016)
“The testimonial I provide here is exactly the same as I share with all authors considering Mike’s services. He is a consummate artist, and his maps are extraordinary: clear yet detailed, distinctive, and useful. Further, Mike is concerned to meet all your needs, so will revisit the design of a map when new issues arise. His rates are reasonable and you are sure to be pleased with the final product.”
Emily Andrew, Senior Editor, Cornell University Press
Mike Bechthold, PhD 