About Analysis History
Analysis History offers carefully curated content. We seek to ask Why historical events happened and our content range is reflected in the blogs.
Simon Sole Biography Jan 2026
I had three careers: Royal Engineer/Intelligence Analyst, entrepreneur, and now filmmaker/historian.
In the Army I served in the usual places of the time: Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Germany, but also Pakistan and twice in Canada. I taught white water kayaking, caving, and mountaineering but also worked in MOD. Life was more fun than toil.
I then started a tech-enabled publishing company, Exclusive Analysis (EA), which we built open-source data sets to enable insurance price modelling and to forecast world events. It was a subscription-model business and since we created a new global market and I learned about Sales, Marketing, and building teams. After 12 years, Exclusive Analysis was bought by IHS, who owned Jane’s, and I then coached and invested in companies that were like EA. I am unashamedly commercial and favour an agile approach to most things (Try lots of new things and expand on those that work).
I am now a historian, military museum trustee, and make films including Containment (2015), Amashinga (2024); I just launched https://www.analysishistory.com on which to host films and history content. I am a trustee at the Cumbria Museum of Military Life in Carlisle and the Kohima Museum in York. I chair the local U3A military history group. My knowledge interests are broad: Political Economy, Modern History of Japan (Meiji Restoration), then WW2, Russia, British Colonial history, especially Anglo Zulu wars.
EA used to forecast world events but now via Analysis History I look back seeking modern relevance. I am very interested in AI to create images and do a good deal of public speaking, mostly on historical topics.
My degrees are from Royal Military College of Science (Applied Science); University of Baluchistan (War Studies); Downing College, Cambridge (International Relations). I live in Malvern and London. My club is Soho House.
I respect those who have sales pipelines to manage and do not want to waste their time, but I am no longer transactional about meetings. It is one of life’s pleasures to spend time talking to interesting people. I only very rarely invest in films since I have lots of my own projects. Bandoola Productions is my film company but is now a subordinate to Analysis History which is its distribution platform.
Current Projects and Status
Talks delivered recently and ready to go.
History of Ukraine and its relationship with Russia.
Indo Pakistan Wars
Anglo Zulu War of 1879. A geopolitical analysis. I know the battles and battlefields well enough, but that narrative is already well told. Our feature documentary, Amashinga is about the Zulu aspects and the events before and after the war. The trailer is here.
Japan: Ally to Enemy. Why did we end up fighting Japan in WW2?
The Battle of Imphal 1944.
Films/Books
Battle of Imphal. We have done much research in English and with Japanese translators. I have 80,000 words of a draft book and lots of clips to use in a film. I have spent weeks in Japan and on the battlefield in both Manipur India and Myanmar. I travelled the length of the Chindwin a small boat to see the river crossings. I take a rather contrarian view the Battle of Imphal and thus need to research and evidence the new argument clearly.
I interviewed and filmed an SS veteran who lived in UK and I need to turn that into a talk and short film. I also have the archive of the last German Doctor in Stalingrad.
Bandoola and Frog. This is children’s fun and a viable Instagram character and a book. Needs more time and to benefit from AI to bring the cost of production down.
