Edward Smithies was born in Daventry, Northamptonshire in 1941. He was educated at Leeds and London Universities, and held a doctorate in urban history. He worked as a Senior Lecturer in history at the Middlesex Polytechnic until his death in 1991.

Works by Edward Smithies include:
War at Sea
War in the Air
Crime in Wartime: A Social History of Crime in World War II
The Black Economy in England Since 1914