Rex Winsbury
Encyclopedia
Rex Winsbury is a British journalist and author. He worked for BBC
current affairs, the Financial Times
and Daily Telegraph, was development director for Nation Newspapers in Nairobi, Kenya, and has written widely on the press and technology and health issues such as AIDS
and cancer
.
He has written books on politics, technology, health and, latterly, Roman history. His first book on the subject, published by Duckworth in March 2009, was The Roman Book – Books, Publishing and Performance in Classical Rome, a literary-historical reassessment of the publishing business in classical Rome.
The second, published by Duckworth in September 2010, constructs a political and military narrative for Zenobia of Palmyra, one of the great women of classical antiquity. Winsbury argues that the romantic image of Zenobia
as a beautiful, intellectual but chaste Arab queen of the desert and the political perception of her as a regal woman whose feminine qualities lifted her above her misfortunes, do less than justice to Palmyra's most controversial ruler. There was a dark side to her that shows her as a ruler who did what real rulers do and she should be judged on this.
Winsbury was born on May 6, 1935. He holds an MA from Oxford University and a PhD from London University in classical studies. During his National Service
, he was sent to Cambridge University to qualify as a Russian interpreter. He was the losing Labour candidate for Southend West in the October 1964 General Election.
in 1975-76.
He wrote a research report on the impact on the press of new electronic technologies for the UK’s Royal Commission on the Press in the 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was involved in planning the switch-over of Fleet Street
from the old hot-metal technology
to computer-based systems. He then became editorial director of Fintel
, the joint venture between the Financial Times and Extel
set up to explore the potential of two early forms of online database, Viewdata
and Prestel
.
He was a founder-director in 1982 of Cable London, one of the UK's first cable television companies and, in 1983 and 1984, was the founder editor of two of the first Financial Times technology newsletters, New Media Markets and Telecom Markets. From 1991 to 2007 he was editor of InterMedia, the magazine of the International Institute of Communications, based in London. He lectured on media topics at City University, London, and more recently on Roman history at Imperial College and Birkbeck College, London.
, for which he also wrote special reports, including Safe Blood in Developing Countries.
Roman history
Politics
Media and Technology
Health
Business
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
current affairs, the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
and Daily Telegraph, was development director for Nation Newspapers in Nairobi, Kenya, and has written widely on the press and technology and health issues such as AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
He has written books on politics, technology, health and, latterly, Roman history. His first book on the subject, published by Duckworth in March 2009, was The Roman Book – Books, Publishing and Performance in Classical Rome, a literary-historical reassessment of the publishing business in classical Rome.
The second, published by Duckworth in September 2010, constructs a political and military narrative for Zenobia of Palmyra, one of the great women of classical antiquity. Winsbury argues that the romantic image of Zenobia
Zenobia
Zenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...
as a beautiful, intellectual but chaste Arab queen of the desert and the political perception of her as a regal woman whose feminine qualities lifted her above her misfortunes, do less than justice to Palmyra's most controversial ruler. There was a dark side to her that shows her as a ruler who did what real rulers do and she should be judged on this.
Winsbury was born on May 6, 1935. He holds an MA from Oxford University and a PhD from London University in classical studies. During his National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, he was sent to Cambridge University to qualify as a Russian interpreter. He was the losing Labour candidate for Southend West in the October 1964 General Election.
Media and technology
From 1959 Winsbury worked at the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph newspapers in London, in BBC current affairs, on the monthly journal Management Today and, from 1986 to 1989, at Nation Newspapers. He was Thomson Fellow in Mass Media Studies at the University of StrathclydeUniversity of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
in 1975-76.
He wrote a research report on the impact on the press of new electronic technologies for the UK’s Royal Commission on the Press in the 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was involved in planning the switch-over of Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
from the old hot-metal technology
Hot metal typesetting
In printing and typography, hot metal typesetting refers to 19th-century technologies for typesetting text in letterpress printing. This method injects molten type metal into a mold that has the shape of one or more glyphs...
to computer-based systems. He then became editorial director of Fintel
Fintel
Fintel is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Fintel is located on the Wümme, a tributary of the Weser River, and has about 3,000 inhabitants.Fintel belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, established in 1180...
, the joint venture between the Financial Times and Extel
Extel
Extel was founded in 1872 with its initial undertaking being the laying of the first telegraphic cable on the Atlantic seabed to electronically connect London and New York...
set up to explore the potential of two early forms of online database, Viewdata
Viewdata
Viewdata is a Videotex implementation. It is a type of information retrieval service in which a subscriber can access a remote database via a common carrier channel, request data and receive requested data on a video display over a separate channel. Samuel Fedida was credited as inventor of the...
and Prestel
Prestel
Prestel , the brand name for the UK Post Office's Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979...
.
He was a founder-director in 1982 of Cable London, one of the UK's first cable television companies and, in 1983 and 1984, was the founder editor of two of the first Financial Times technology newsletters, New Media Markets and Telecom Markets. From 1991 to 2007 he was editor of InterMedia, the magazine of the International Institute of Communications, based in London. He lectured on media topics at City University, London, and more recently on Roman history at Imperial College and Birkbeck College, London.
Health-related work
After surviving cancer, Rex Winsbury wrote articles about coping with cancer which were reproduced on various websites. These include What does someone dying need? which appeared on the Befriending Network and Global Ideas Bank. After working in Africa, he became editor (with Alan Whiteside) of Aids Analysis Africa, a bi-monthly report on the management of aids programmes in Africa. This was supported by the European CommissionEuropean Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, for which he also wrote special reports, including Safe Blood in Developing Countries.
Books and Reports
Rex Winsbury’s publications include the following:Roman history
- The Roman Book – Books, Publishing and Performance in Classical Rome. Duckworth, March 2009, ISBN 978 0 7156 3829 3
- Zenobia of Palmyra: History, Myth and the Neo-Classical Imagination. Duckworth, September 2010, ISBN 978 0 7156 3853 8
Politics
- Michael Stewart and Rex Winsbury, An Incomes Policy for Labour. Fabian Society, 1963
- Communism, Hamish Hamilton, 1978. ISBN 0-241-89551-0
- Trade Unionism. Hamish Hamilton, 1980. ISBN 0-241-10330-4
Media and Technology
- Government and the Press. Fabian Society, 1968. ISBN 0716303795
- New Technology and the Press. Royal Commission on the Press, HMSO, also supported by the Acton Society Trust, 1975
- New Technology and the Journalist. Thomson Foundation, 1976
- Graham Cleverley. Preface by Rex Winsbury. The Fleet Street Disaster. Constable, Sage Publications, 1976. ISBN 0803999895
- The Electronic Bookstall. International Institute of Communications, 1979. ISBN 0904776107
- Viewdata in Action. McGraw Hill, 1981. ISBN 0-07-084548-4)
- Daily Leader. 1984
- Convergence. Royal Television Society, 1985
- Rex Winsbury and Shehina Fazal, Vision and Hindsight – the First 25 years of the International Institute of Communications. John Libbey, 1994. ISBN 2-86196-449-7
Health
- Rex Winsbury, editor and contributor, Safe Blood in Developing Countries: the Lessons from Uganda. Development Studies and Research, European Commission, 1995
Business
- Thomson McLintock & Co. Thomson McLintock, 1977. ISBN 0854221360
See also
- Zenobia website and blog by Judith Weingarten
- Roman Book critique, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
- Palmyrene EmpirePalmyrene EmpireThe Palmyrene Empire was a splinter empire, that broke off of the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor....
- OdaenathusOdaenathusLucius Septimius Odaenathus, Odenathus or Odenatus , the Latinized form of the Syriac Odainath, was a ruler of Palmyra, Syria and later of the short lived Palmyrene Empire, in the second half of the 3rd century, who succeeded in recovering the Roman East from the Persians and restoring it to the...
, Zenobia's husband - AurelianAurelianAurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
, Roman emperor - Shapur IShapur IShapur I or also known as Shapur I the Great was the second Sassanid King of the Second Persian Empire. The dates of his reign are commonly given as 240/42 - 270/72, but it is likely that he also reigned as co-regent prior to his father's death in 242 .-Early years:Shapur was the son of Ardashir I...
, Persian emperor