Jim Crossley read Modern History at Cambridge. He has had a lifelong interest in naval affairs. He is himself a keen sailor and springs from a family with a long naval tradition. His own father was a midshipman on the battleship Resolution in 1916 and his mother was a cousin of Commodore William Goodenough, one of the central figures in the Jutland battle.
Jim Crossley was nominated for the Maritime Foundation’s Mountbatten Maritime Award for Best Literary Contribution for their book 'Voices From Jutland: A Centenary Commemoration'.