The Society for Military History is a United States-based international organization of scholars who research, write, and teach military history of all time periods and places. It includes Naval history, air power history, and studies of technology, ideas, and homefronts. It publishes the quarterly refereed Journal of Military History.
An annual meeting is held every year. Recent meetings have been held in Frederick, Maryland, from April 19–22, 2007; Ogden, Utah, from April 17–19, 2008; Murfreesboro, Tennessee 2–5 April 2009; Lexington, Virginia 20–23 May 2010; Cantigny First Division Foundation, Lisle, IL 9–12 June 2011 with the theme "Ways of War"; Army Historical Foundation, Arlington, VA 10–13 May 2012 with the theme "The Politics of War"; New Orleans, LA 14–17 March 2013 with the theme "War, Society and Remembrance"; Kansas City, MO April 3–6, 2014 with the theme “Transformational Conflicts: War and its Legacy Through History” The 82nd Annual Meeting had the theme "Conflict and Commemoration: The Influence of War on Society" and was held on April 9–12, 2015 in Montgomery, Alabama.
83rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Military History with the theme “Crossing Borders, Crossing Boundaries” was scheduled to be held April 14–17, 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The Society also sponsors sessions on military topics at the annual Northern Great Plains History Conference.
The society was established in 1933 as the American Military History Foundation, renamed in 1939 the American Military Institute, and renamed again in 1990 as the Society for Military History. It has over 2,300 members including many prominent scholars, soldiers, and citizens interested in military history. Membership is open to anyone and includes a subscription to the journal.
Officers (as of 2014) are:
President Dr. Gregory J. W. UrwinVice President Dr. Bill AllisonExecutive Director Dr. Robert H. BerlinTreasurer Dr. Graham A. CosmasJournal Editor Dr. Bruce VandervortRecording Secretary & Photographer Thomas MorganWebmaster & Newsletter Editor Dr. Kurt HackemerArchivist Paul A. ThomsenDennis ShowalterCarol ReardonTheodore RoppJeffrey GreyRoy K. FlintThe Samuel Eliot Morison Prize recognizes not any one specific achievement, but a body of contributions in the field of military history, stretching over time and showing a range of scholarly work contributing significantly to the field. Recent winners include:
Conrad C. Crane, Army Heritage and Education Center, United States Army War College, 2016Joseph T. Glatthaar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2015Rick Atkinson, Washington, DC, 2014Ira D. Gruber, Rice University, 2013Ronald H. Spector, The George Washington University, 2012Gerhard Weinberg, University of North Carolina, 2011Peter Maslowski, 2010Richard Kohn, 2009Jeremy Black, 2008James M. McPherson, 2007Robert Doughty, 2006Dennis Showalter, 2005Allan R. Millett, 2004Edward J. Drea, 2003John Shy, 2002Richard Overy, 2001David M. Glantz, 2000Geoffrey N. Parker, 1999Stephen E. Ambrose, 1998Robert M. Utley, 1997John Keegan, 1996Martin Blumenson, 1995The Society's Distinguished Book Awards recognize the best books written in English on military history, broadly conceived.
Mark Edward Lender and Garry Wheeler Stone, Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of BattleTonio Andrade, The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World HistoryLaila Parsons, The Commander: Fawzi al-Qawuqji and the Fight for Arab Independence, 1914-1948Michael Livingston and Kelly DeVries, editors. The Battle of Crécy: A CasebookDavid L. Preston, Braddock's Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to RevolutionPierre Razoux, The Iran-Iraq WarPaul Robinson, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich: Supreme Commander of the Russian ArmyDavid T. Zabecki, editor. Germany at War: 400 Years of Military HistoryAndrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the EmpireAlexander Watson, Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary at War, 1914-1918Michael V. Leggiere, Blucher: Scourge of NapoleonSamuel J. Watson, Jackson's Sword: The Army Officer Corps on the American Frontier, 1810-1821 and Peacekeepers and Conquerors: The Army Officer Corps on the American Frontier, 1821-1846Geoffrey Parker, War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth CenturyGeorge W. Gawrych, The Young Ataturk: From Ottoman Soldier to Statesman of TurkeySpencer C. Tucker, editor, American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document CollectionRichard S. Faulkner, School of Hard Knocks: Combat Leadership in the American Expeditionary ForcesRobert M. Citino, The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943Geoffrey Roberts, Stalin’s General: The Life of Georgy ZhukovClayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader, Of Duty Well and Faithfully Done: A History of the Regular Army in the Civil WarJohn Sloan Brown, Kevlar Legions: The Transformation of the U.S. Army, 1989-2005Mark Peattie, Edward Drea, and Hans van de Ven (eds.), The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945Mungo Melvin, Manstein: Hitler's Greatest GeneralSteven E. Clay, US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 (4 vols.)Chad L. Williams, Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I EraPeter H. Wilson, The Thirty Years War: Europe's TragedyJohn MacFarlane, Triquet’s Cross: A Study of Military HeroismClifford J. Rogers, ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military TechnologyDaniel E. Sutherland, A Savage Conflict: The Decisive Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil WarEdward J. Drea, Japan’s Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall, 1853-1945J.P. Harris, Douglas Haig and the First World WarSpencer C. Tucker, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American WarsIngo Trauschweizer, The Cold War U.S. Army: Building Deterrence for Limited War.Jamel Ostwald, Vauban Under Siege: Engineering Efficiency and Martial Vigor in the War of the Spanish Succession.Andy Wiest, Vietnam's Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN.Philip Sabin, Hans van Wees, and Michael Whitby, eds. The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare.Jon Latimer, 1812: War with AmericaJohn Lawrence Tone, War and Genocide in Cuba, 1895-1898Martha Hannah, Your Death Would Be Mine: Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War.Spencer C. Tucker, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Cold War: A Political, Social and Military HistoryJohn Grenier, The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier, 1607-1814.Robert A. Doughty, Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War.Adrian Goldsworthy, Caesar: Life of a Colossus.Peter Karsten, ed. Encyclopedia of War and American Society. 3 vols.H. P. Willmott, The Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Last Fleet ActionGeorge Satterfield, Princes, Posts and Partisans: The Army of Louis XIV and Partisan Warfare in the Netherlands (1673-1678)Steven E. Woodworth and Kenneth J. Winkle, Atlas of the Civil WarColin White, ed., Horatio Nelson, The New LettersEdward M. Coffman, The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941Robert M. Citino, Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational WarfareJames T. Controvich, United States Army Unit and Organizational Histories: A BibliographyGeorge C. Rable, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!Terry Copp, Fields of Fire: The Canadians in NormandyJoshua Brown, ed., A Good Idea of Hell: Letters from a Chasseur a PiedMichael J. Crawford, ed., The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History: Volume III 1814-1815Rick Atkinson, An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943Hew Strachan, The First World War. Volume I: To ArmsStuart Hills, By Tank Into Normandy: A Memoir of the Campaign in North-West Europe From D-Day to VE DayDavid S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds., Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political and Military History (3 vol)Mark Stoler, Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliances, and U.S. Strategy in World War IIRonald H. Spector, At War At Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth CenturyRobert H. Ferrell, editor, for William S. Triplet, A Youth in the Meuse-Argonne, A Colonel in the Armored Divisions, and In the Philippines and OkinawaGeoffrey P. Megargee (2000): Inside Hitler's High Command (2000)