Periodically we experience a spasm of concern that military history is dead or dying. There’s not often much evidence advanced to support that hypothesis, nor much for this being a new problem (if indeed it is even a problem at all). I have views on this question, but the purpose of this blog entry is not to express them. It is merely to list some relevant literature which those who are interested in this topic might like to look at. Most or all of these articles and books were recommended to me by others: So a big Thank You to them. I can claim no credit at all. This is not an exhaustive list and it makes no pretence at balancing all the issues or viewpoints involved. To be honest, I’m not even going to pretend that I’ve read them all. But you might find them useful.
The starting point for every discussion on this should be Michael Howard’s essay, ‘The Use and Abuse of Military History’, in his The Causes of Wars and Other Essays (London, 1983, but much reprinted since).
Jeremy Black, Rethinking Military History (Abingdon, 2004)
Contributions by Michael Howard, Brian Bond, John Terraine and others in Juliet Gardiner (ed.), What is History Today (Basingstoke, 1988)
Peter Paret, “The History of War and the New Military History” in Understanding War: Essays on Clausewitz and the History of Military Power (Princeton 1992)
Michael Geyer, ‘War and the Context of General History in an Age of Total War’, Journal of Military History 57: 5 (October 1993)
John A. Lynn, ‘The Embattled Future of Academic Military History’, Journal of Modern History 61:4 (October 1997)
Paul Kennedy, ‘The Fall and Rise of Military History’, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History 3 (Winter 1991)
Tami Davis Biddle and Robert M. Citino, ‘The Role of Military History in the Contemporary Academy’, Society for Military History white paper, SMH White Paper | The Society for Military History (smh-hq.org)
‘New Military History’ Panel, AHA Colloquium, 12 January 2021 New Military History – Bing video
Robert M. Citino, ‘Military Histories, Old and New: A Reintroduction’, American Historical Review 112 (October 2007)
Wayne E. Lee, ‘Mind and Matter – Cultural Analysis in American Military History: A Look at the State of the Field’, Journal of American History (March 2007)
‘War in Historical and Contemporary Perspective’: Conference at KCL, June 2017, War in Historical and Contemporary Perspective Conference Report – Defence-In-Depth
Nick Satantakes blog: ‘The State of Military History’, In the Service of Clio: Blog CCXXVIII (228): The State of Military History (Part 1) (sarantakes.blogspot.com) and following
Matthew Ford, ‘Chilcot and the Politics of Britain’s Military History’ Chilcot and the politics of Britain’s military history (shef.ac.uk)
Please feel free to suggest other readings in the Comments below
Cheers
Jonathan