The military historian, who has lived in Parsons Green since 1971, already counts such well-regarded books as The Battle for Spain, Stalingrad, and Berlin: the Downfall among his work, and revealed that hard work is a family value.

"My father-in-law is writing a history of the papacy at 80 - so there is no excuse for me slacking," the 63-year-old told h&f news.

Indeed, he already has his eye on numerous projects to follow up last year'sD-Day: The Battle for Normandy and is now researching a general history of the Second World War.

"I am trying to cover the whole of the war, which needless to say is a terrifying project," said Antony, who married fellow author Artemis Cooper in 1986.

"I can't really say much at this stage - I think it is too early - but there is a date for publication in 2012.

"There hasn't been a book on it for a bit of time and I think there is a lot of the material still to be gathered, on both sides. I don't think the fate of civilians caught up in that terrible winter has ever been written about. I do think in Luxembourg, Belgium and so forth they had an appalling time.

"There is always something new to say and I am fascinated by the mentality of the Germans at that particular time, having an almost mad belief that through this dramatic stroke they could somehow reverse the course of the war.

Antony, who has two children and was actually born 'a bit further up Fulham Road', started out by writing fiction after an education at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and army service.

"Funnily enough, when I was leaving the army it was actually because I had started to write novels," he said. "I suppose it was partly because my mother's side of the family were writers and I thought why not give it a go?

"The novels didn't do too badly but there was no way I was earning a proper living and publishers started to say with your military experience why don't you try military history?"

His first military book - since updated - covered the Spanish Civil War, but the Second World War was the subject behind his impressive rise up the bestseller ranks.

It is also because it was the war which has shaped our lives - I was born just after the war and it was something that dominated my father's life, he was in the war, so you grew up with that and also wanted to understand it.

But at first it seemed Stalingrad was written very much at the wrong time. Publishers trying to take advantage of the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, in 1995, had taken a battering and it seemed interest in that era was well and truly over.

Nevertheless, it became a massive success and - with the wonderful benefit of hindsight - it came out a perfect moment.

"I remember thinking, and so did everybody else in publishing, 'Oh my God', that means the Second World War is over as a general interest, and by then I was already researching my book on Stalingrad," said Antony.

The reasons are somewhat complex, but he feels that part of the interest in a book looking at individual tales - including civilians - as well as the bigger picture was down to the old social order of the past changing on the back of Thatcherism.

This was reflected in people's expectations of history. They became much more interested in the fate of the individual, rather than the way history had been written in collective terms such as the viewpoint of a country or an army.

"There was a tremendous sea change in history," said Antony, who mentions that many women were also reading his books - unthinkable for military history beforehand.

His approach was influenced by his Sandhurst tutor, John Keegan. Keegan's work, such as The Face of Battle, pioneered a history derived from the soldier's eyeview instead of the dry accounts penned by the likes of retired officers concentrating on order when war is usually chaos.

Antony's work has often been controversial, with his new research leading to revelations hated by some, but he stresses he is not out to make mischief. He feels strongly that historians testing pre-conceived ideas are wrong.

He said: "The idea you should have a thesis, a leading thought, is absolute rubbish and in fact I think it's dangerous, taking the material simply to support your thesis.

His own future success seems assured, with the excellent reputation he has built up, but Antony has fears for the industry given recent developments, especially for young authors starting out.

He has been chairing the Society of Authors and one topic is the trend towards pushing would be bestsellers such as celebrity memoirs.

"You are judged on the sales of your last book rather than on the potential of your new one," he said. "So if a book doesn't do well it means an author's career could already be over, which I think is a terrifying development."

The rise of ebooks is another worry in such a 'fragmented market'. Quality control is a big issue. "We are going to see a terrifying disintegration of the market, where lots of people are still going to carry on writing, but with 
100,000 or 200,000 books a year coming out who is going to be able to assess them? Is it just going to rely on the blogosphere?"

If online organisations create iPad-style devices designed to download novels then publishers could be bypassed.

Antony added:

Finding common ground between authors and publishers seeking to protect their own interests has proved difficult. Such thoughts will not deter him from future writing, of course, and fresh research will always cast new light on subjects covered before.

"I thoroughly disagree with the idea that a book can be definitive," said Antony. "It may always be superseded. There are obviously some books that are so good and so important in their research that they will always be valid, even if they have been superseded in one or two aspects.

"But the idea that you have said the last word on a subject is rubbish."

See www.antonybeevor.com