Authors:Richard S Grayson, Erica Wald Pages: 1 - 1 Abstract: A short introduction to the special issue. PubDate: 2022-09-19 Issue No:Vol. 8, No. 2 (2022)
Authors:James E Kitchen, Stuart Mitchell Pages: 2 - 26 Abstract: This introduction to the Michael Howard Special Issue offers a short background to his life, contextualises the themes found across the contributions to this issue, and then provides a more detailed analysis of Howard and his two ‘careers’ as a Captain and a Professor. Howard’s life as a soldier is too often compartmentalised from his work as a historian; this introduction examines where and how Howard’s military experiences shaped his later intellectual interests, academic career, and historiographical ideas. It then moves on to look at Howard’s landmark lecture and article ‘The Use and Abuse of Military History’, the influences on his methodology, and two prominent lectures he gave at Oxford as Regius Professor of History. The picture that emerges of Howard is one of a life dedicated to understanding the past and nurturing through good faith the generations that would follow him. PubDate: 2022-09-19 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v8i2.1632 Issue No:Vol. 8, No. 2 (2022)
Authors:Adrian Gregory Pages: 27 - 35 Abstract: A reflection on teaching an undergraduate tutorial course that had been set up by Sir Michael Howard and the way that undergraduate teaching of matters of war and peace develops not only in line with developments in historiography but in the mirror of historical events. Professor Howard's writing is useful in making sense of this. PubDate: 2022-09-19 Issue No:Vol. 8, No. 2 (2022)
Authors:Vanda Wilcox Pages: 36 - 54 Abstract: Michael Howard’s War in European History, published in 1976, was one of his most influential works. This article traces its reception in France, Italy and West Germany, contextualising the book within the post-Second World War development of military history in those countries. The ‘war and society’ approach for which Howard is celebrated developed along distinctive lines in each, so international scholars focused on different aspects of the book. War in European History was also used by Umberto Eco to explore the relationship between force and power. His insights offer fresh ways to examine more recent developments in the field of military history. PubDate: 2022-09-19 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v8i2.1634 Issue No:Vol. 8, No. 2 (2022)
Authors:David Morgan-Owen, Miichael Finch Pages: 55 - 76 Abstract: Sir Michael Howard is widely recognised as the founder of ‘War Studies’, a Department of Kings College, London, which embodied a new intellectual agenda for the study of war. Yet whilst his influence as a founder was significant, it has been overstated. In this article we contextualise the emergence of War Studies as part of a longer series of attempts to establish war-oriented study at the University of London and situate Howard’s endeavours alongside those of more senior colleagues. In so doing, we also emphasise the limited and pragmatic approach to war studies that Howard developed during this period. PubDate: 2022-09-19 Issue No:Vol. 8, No. 2 (2022)
Authors:Mungo Melvin Pages: 77 - 102 Abstract: The English translations of Carl von Clausewitz’s On War from that of Colonel John James Graham (1873) through Matthijs Jolles (1943) to the most commonly read today by Michael Howard and Peter Paret (1976) differ in readability and reliability. Although the latter is widely considered as the most accessible and has become accepted as the modern ‘standard’, it contains a number of unfortunate mistranslations. If On War is to reflect more faithfully what Clausewitz meant while remaining relevant for today it demands a new translation of a text that holds many challenges. PubDate: 2022-09-19 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v8i2.1636 Issue No:Vol. 8, No. 2 (2022)
Authors:Linda Risso Pages: 103 - 118 Abstract: In the 1980s, Michael Howard took an active part in the debate about nuclear strategy. He used his historical expertise, his personal military experience, and his links with academia and government to offer a balanced analysis of the nature, risks and ethical implications of the use of nuclear weapons. This article examines the debate among security experts when rapid technological advances, and a tendency to over-estimate the nuclear capability of the Soviet Union, increased the risk of miscalculations and accidental nuclear annihilation. As this article demonstrates, Howard’s contribution stands out for his unique ability to bring together multiple dimensions in a balanced and considered approach to nuclear strategy and to its ethical implications. PubDate: 2022-09-19 Issue No:Vol. 8, No. 2 (2022)
Authors:Alisa Miller Pages: 119 - 124 Abstract: This article considers some of the ways communications technologies have shaped narratives of war. It touches on different military cultures and how they contend with imposed and implicit hierarchies. It then goes on to briefly discuss the ways these hierarchies are expressed in various analogue and online media, both as a reflection and a potential subverter of cultural expectations about who participates in conflicts, and how. PubDate: 2022-09-19 DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v8i2.1638 Issue No:Vol. 8, No. 2 (2022)
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