- published: 25 May 2016
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Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 28 October 1951) is an award-winning British columnist and author, noted for his traditionalist conservative stance. He has published five books, including The Abolition of Britain, A Brief History of Crime, The Broken Compass and most recently The Rage Against God. Hitchens writes for Britain's The Mail on Sunday newspaper. A former resident correspondent in Moscow and Washington, Hitchens continues to work as an occasional foreign reporter, and appears frequently in the British broadcast media. He is the younger brother of the late US-based writer Christopher Hitchens.
In 2010 Hitchens was described by Edward Lucas in The Economist as "a forceful, tenacious, eloquent and brave journalist. Readers with long memories may remember his extraordinary coverage of the revolution in Romania in 1989, or more recently his intrepid travels to places such as North Korea. He lambasts woolly thinking and crooked behaviour at home and abroad".
Peter Hitchens was born in 1951 in Malta, where his father, who had been a commander during World War 2, was stationed with the Royal Navy. He was educated at The Leys School and the Oxford College of Further Education before doing a BA in Politics at the University of York, where he is said to have replied "I was too busy starting a revolution" when asked why he was late for a lecture. He married Eve Ross, the daughter of left-wing journalist David Ross, in 1983.[citation needed] Hitchens originally hoped to become a naval officer, but an eye defect prevented him from doing so.