Role Military Historian Occupation Historian Successor John Elliott | Term 1980–1989 Name Michael Howard | |
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Full Name Michael Eliot Howard Born 29 November 1922 (age 101) ( 1922-11-29 ) Ashmore, Dorset Known for expanding military history beyond the traditional campaigns and battles accounts by examining the sociological significance of war Partner(s) Mark Anthony James (Civil Partnership: 2006 – present) Titles Regius Professor of History Books War in European history, The First World War, The invention of peace, Clausewitz: A Very Short Intr, The causes of wars and other ess Similar People William Roger Louis, Carl von Clausewitz, B H Liddell Hart, Harry Hinsley, Winston Churchill | ||
Predecessor Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper | ||
Sir michael howard centre for the history of war
Sir Michael Eliot Howard (born 29 November 1922) is a British military historian, formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford University, Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University and founder of the Department of War Studies, King's College London.
Contents
- Sir michael howard centre for the history of war
- Conversations with history sir michael howard
- Early life
- Historical writing
- Work
- References
Howard has been described in the Financial Times as "Britain's greatest living historian".
Conversations with history sir michael howard
Early life
Howard was born on 29 November 1922 in the village of Ashmore in Dorset. He was the youngest son of Geoffrey Howard and Edith (née Edinger). He was educated at Wellington College and Christ Church, University of Oxford (with service in World War II in between). He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1946, which was later promoted to Master of Arts (MA) in 1948.
Howard joined the British Army and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant into the Coldstream Guards on 4 December 1942. He was given the service number 253901. He fought in the Italian Campaign, serving with the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, coming ashore during the landings at Salerno in September 1943. On 27 January 1944, during the First Battle of Monte Cassino, he was awarded the Military Cross (MC) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy".
After Oxford, Howard began his teaching career at King's College London, where he created the Department of War Studies. From his position at King's he was one of the Britain's most influential in developing strategic studies as a discipline that brought together government, military, and academia to think about defence and national security more broadly and deeply than had been done before. He was one of the founders of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. From his family, education, and service in the Guards, he had extensive connections at the higher levels of British society, and he worked them astutely to further his intellectual goals. He had close connections in the Labour Party but was also consulted as an advisor by Margaret Thatcher.
Historical writing
Howard is best known for expanding military history beyond the traditional campaigns and battles accounts to include wider discussions about the sociological significance of war. In his account of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, Howard looked at how the Prussian and French armies reflected the social structure of the two nations. He has also been a leading interpreter of the writings of the German military thinker Carl von Clausewitz, including preparing the leading translation of On War with the American historian Peter Paret. In addition, in both his inaugural and concluding lectures as Regius Professor, and in his popular and influential War in European History, Howard has stressed the difference between traditional military history, which seeks to identify easily applicable lessons for the present from the history of past wars and military campaigns, and his own approach, which stresses the uniqueness of the historical past and the impossibility of deriving such lessons to guide modern strategic and tactical choices.
In 1985, he delivered the Huizinga Lecture in the Dutch city of Leiden, under the title: 1945: End of an Era.
Howard helped found the Department of War Studies and the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives at King's College London. He is currently president emeritus of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which he also helped to establish, and a fellow of the British Academy. Howard was knighted in 1986 and was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2002 and to the Order of Merit in 2005. In 1988 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences.