A HEREFORDSHIRE historian is celebrating a landmark moment in his literary career.

Author Derrick Murphy from Breinton has hit a landmark, with global sales of his books reaching the half million mark following the publication of his sixty-fifth book, 'The Changing Nature of Warfare'.

The achievement coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the avid historian's book writing career, during the course of which he has explored vast swathes of world history.

"I have written on a wide variety of topics, from late Medieval Spain to Twenty-First Century Britain, and have also had the pleasure of commissioning and editing work by a wide variety of historians," Mr Murphy said.

"I wrote and edited a history of Britain from 1914 to 2000, which involved some of the top historians working in their fields at the University of London, including those who had the privilege to study the recently opened files in the old Soviet Union, now Russia, on their aspect of the cold war.

"But my favourite area for writing history is on American Civil Rights. I was brought up in the 1960s and was a great admirer of Dr Martin Luther King."

The expert author, who was previously editor and regular contributor to the 'Modern History Review' magazine, moved to the county some years ago and believes it to be the perfect place for writers to flourish.

Mr Murphy said: "Hereford is such a great place to write. You need a pleasant, quiet place to concentrate on the writing process and Breinton is ideal for that."