Jonathan Forty was educated in Dorset and the north of England before attending Queen Mary College, London. He designed and worked on military magazines, including for many years Tank magazine.
Son of author and RAC Tank Museum curator George Forty, Jonathan and his brother Simon have continued the family tradition, writing mainly on historical and military subjects including books on Hadrian's Wall, the Napoleonic wars and the two world wars, often in collaboration. Simon's latest book, published by Historic England, is D-Day UK: 100 Locations in Britain; Jonathan's Heavyweights: The Military Use of Massive Weapons. They are also co-authors of Tank Warfare 1939-1945.