Name Robert Citino Role Historian | ||
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Books The German Way of War, The Wehrmacht Retreats, Death of the Wehrmacht, Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm, Path to Blitzkrieg | ||
Robert M. Citino (born June 19, 1958) is an American historian at the University of North Texas. He is a leading authority on modern German military history, with an emphasis upon World War II and the German influence upon modern operational doctrine.
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Citino is an award-winning author on military history, receiving recognition for his works from the American Historical Association, the Society for Military History, and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. The Historically Speaking journal described him as "one of the most perceptive military historians writing today".
Education and career
Citino was born and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, a son of a World War II veteran. After graduating with Magna Cum Laude with his Bachelor's degree in history from Ohio State University in 1978, he earned his Master's and PhD from Indiana University in 1980 and 1984. Citino is fluent in German and is a prolific reader of early 20th century German military literature.
Prior to his position at the University of North Texas, Citino has taught at Eastern Michigan University, West Point, and the Command and General Staff School. He is a fellow of the Barsanti Military History Center, a trustee of the Society for Military History, and a consultant for the White House staff. He has also appeared as a consultant on the History Channel.
Historian of the Wehrmacht
Throughout his career Citino has advocated changing the current nomenclature of German military tactics. Although he uses the word Blitzkrieg on the cover of his books, he has always espoused the view that it should be called by its proper German military term, Bewegungskrieg, or maneuver warfare. Citino has taught courses on Nazi Germany and American military history, including Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War.
On March 15, 2013, Citino was awarded the 2013 Distinguished Book Award by the Society for Military History for his work The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943. The book explores German losses in key campaigns in 1943—losses which would eventually lead to an erosion of the German military's strategic advantage. It is his second Distinguished Book Award; he previously received one in 2004 for his book Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm. Citino was a visiting professor at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for the 2013–14 academic school year.