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Levison Wood

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Major
Levison Wood
FRSA FRGS FRSGS VR
at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2024.
Born (1982-05-05) 5 May 1982 (age 42)
Hartshill, Staffordshire, England
Occupation(s)Military officer, explorer, photographer and journalist
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
Years of service2005–2010, 2012–present
RankMajor
Service number564688
UnitParachute Regiment
77th Brigade
Battles / warsWar in Afghanistan
Websitewww.levisonwood.com

Major Levison James Wood, FRSA FRGS FRSGS, VR (born 5 May 1982)[1] is a British Army officer and explorer. He is best known for his extended walking expeditions in Africa, Asia, and Central America. He has also undertaken numerous other overland journeys, including a foot crossing of Madagascar and mountain climbing in Iraq. He documents his journeys through books, documentaries, and photography.

Life

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The son of teachers Levison Wood and Janice, née Curzon, Wood was born on 5 May 1982 at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in Hartshill, Staffordshire. He grew up in nearby Forsbrook[2] and was educated at Painsley Catholic College,[3] before obtaining an honours degree in history at the University of Nottingham. He was commissioned as an officer into the Parachute Regiment on 13 April 2006[4] where he spent four years, serving in Afghanistan in Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul. Wood was promoted to Captain on 13 October 2008.[5]

He left the army in April 2010, took up a career in writing and photography, and has become a bestselling author. He has extensive experience in travel and exploration in over 100 countries and in 2011 was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He is an elected Fellow of the Explorers Club in New York, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a visiting Fellow of The Business School and holds honorary doctorates at Staffordshire University and The University of Nottingham.

Wood acts as a patron and ambassador for a number of charities including UNICEF, the Tusk Trust, The Glacier Trust,[6] the ABF The Soldiers' Charity[7] and The Gurkha Welfare Trust. He rejoined the army in 2012, serving as a reservist Major in the 77th Brigade.[citation needed]

In March 2024 Wood was appointed as Chancellor of Staffordshire University, taking up the position on the 1st May.[8]

Overland expeditions

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Beginning in December 2013, over the course of nine months, he undertook the first ever expedition to walk the entire length of the river Nile from the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda. The expedition was inspired by the explorers John Hanning Speke, Richard Francis Burton, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley.[9] Wood was accompanied by numerous guides, journalists (including Matthew Power), and friends along the different stages of the route. The expedition was commissioned into a four part television programme for Channel 4 that aired in January 2015, and Wood detailed the trip in his book Walking the Nile.[10] Power died during the programme from severe heat stroke. Wood was forced to abandon a 450-mile (720 km) section in South Sudan due to heavy fighting caused by civil war.[11]

In 2015, Wood embarked on another challenge: to walk the length of the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan, filming a documentary series and writing another book about the experience, which was published in January 2016.[7][12]

In September 2017 he began his most ambitious challenge to date: a full circumnavigation of the Arabian Peninsula: travelling from Syria, through Iraq, the Gulf, crossing part of the Empty Quarter desert in Oman, traversing Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Holy Land to finish in Lebanon; an expedition totalling 5,000 miles (8,000 km). During the course of the journey, he was embedded with Iraqi troops fighting ISIS where he witnessed the liberation of Sharqat and also encountered Palestinian guerrillas and Hezbollah operatives. He visited the city of Palmyra which was then under Russian control. This journey was documented in the Discovery series Arabia With Levison Wood.

Channel 4 broadcast Walking the Americas from January 2017, featuring an expedition from Mexico to Colombia.[7] The channel then broadcast his journey along the Caucasus in the four-episode series From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers.[13]

In May 2020, Channel 4 commenced broadcasting Walking with Elephants, where Levison followed the 650-mile migration of elephants across Botswana.[14]

In August 2023, Levison presented Levison Wood: Walking with...; a three-part wildlife documentary series that aired on Channel 4.[15]

Awards

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Military Awards & Decorations

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Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan with Afghanistan clasp
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
Volunteer Reserves Service Medal[16]
Army Achievement Medal (US Army award)[17]

Literary Awards

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Walking the Himalayas was voted "Adventure Travel Book of the Year" for 2016 at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.[18]

Wood was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Staffordshire University in 2017 in recognition of his work as an explorer, writer and photographer.[19]

Bibliography

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  • 2015 – Walking the Nile[20]
  • 2016 – Walking the Himalayas: An Adventure of Survival and Endurance
  • 2017 – Eastern Horizons: Hitchhiking the Silk Road
  • 2017 – Walking the Americas[21]
  • 2018 – Arabia: A Journey Through The Heart of the Middle East
  • 2019 – Incredible Journeys: Discovery, Adventure, Danger, Endurance ISBN 9781526360434
  • 2020 - The Last Giants
  • 2020 - Encounters: A Photographic Journey
  • 2021 - The Art of Exploration
  • 2022 - Endurance
  • 2023 - Escape from Kabul

References

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  1. ^ Wood, Levison [@Levisonwood] (5 May 2015). "What a place to spend a birthday!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 December 2015 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Taylor, Jeremy (10 January 2016). "Relative Values: the explorer Levison Wood and his father". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  3. ^ Hermione Eyre (8 April 2015). "Tough guy: Levison Wood on walking the Nile and being ten times tougher than Bear Grylls". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  4. ^ "No. 57994". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 May 2006. p. 7379.
  5. ^ "No. 58912". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 December 2008. p. 19637.
  6. ^ "Levison Wood joins The Glacier Trust". The Glacier Trust. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "Biography". LevisonWood.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Levison Wood to become Staffordshire University chancellor". BBC News. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  9. ^ James Meikle (14 November 2013). "Briton to walk length of the Nile on 4,250-mile trek from Rwanda to Egypt". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  10. ^ Wood, Levison. "Walking the Nile on Channel 4". Channel 4.
  11. ^ "Explorer Levison Wood completes River Nile walk". BBC News. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Channel 4 tracks Levison Wood Walking the Himalayas". Channel 4. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  13. ^ "From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers: From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers – Episode Guide". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  14. ^ Channel 4 - Walking with Elephants
  15. ^ "Levison Wood: Walking with..." channel4.com. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  16. ^ @levison.wood (15 September 2022). "We live in historic times. Couldn't miss the opportunity to go and take in the atmosphere of Westminster today. Thankfully my mate @alex_bescoby had nothing else to do on his birthday than push me round… Whether you believe in the monarchy or not, it's impossible to deny the fact that her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth oversaw a period of great change in the country and abroad.…" – via Instagram.
  17. ^ ""Instagram post 'They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old...'"". Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2016". Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards. 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  19. ^ "Honorary Graduates: Major Levison Wood". Staffordshire University. 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  20. ^ London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781471135637
  21. ^ London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781473654068
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