Sir Hew Francis Anthony Strachan ( ), (born 1 September 1949) is a British military historian, well known for his leadership in scholarly studies of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and the history of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He is currently professor of international relations at the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...
.
Early life
Strachan was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland. He was educated at
Rugby School
Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
, then in 1968 was a merchant seaman for three months, working his passage around the world on ships of Ben Line Steamers Ltd. He then spent three years at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating BA in 1971 and proceeding to M.A. in 1975. In 1973, he joined a survey of antiquities in the
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
.
Career
In 1975, Strachan was elected a research fellow of Corpus Christi College, and in 1977–1978 was a senior lecturer in war studies at the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...
. In 1978, he returned to his Cambridge college as a tutor.
He became admissions tutor and then senior tutor of Corpus Christi College, and in 1992 was elected a life fellow. He was Professor of Modern History at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
from 1992 to 2000, then migrated to
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
as Chichele Professor of the History of War at All Souls.
He was director of the Oxford Programme on the Changing Character of War from 2004 to 2015, and published a series of important articles on strategy, as well as editing books which have arisen from the project.
He is a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
and the
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history.
Origins
The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...
Tweeddale
Tweeddale (Scottish Gaelic: ''Srath Thuaidh/Tuaidhdail'') is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders council area in south-eastern Scotland. It had also been a province in the Middle Ages. From 1975 to 1996 it was a local gov ...
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...
. He was on the council of the
National Army Museum
The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the " Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public bo ...
and is currently a trustee of the Imperial War Museum. In 2016, he became Patron of
Western Front Association
The Western Front Association (WFA) was inaugurated on 11 November 1980, in order to further interest in the Great War of 1914-1918. The WFA aims to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all those who fought on all sides and who serve ...
. He is a visiting professor of the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy in Trondheim and in 2009 was the Sir Howard Kippenberger Professor at Victoria University Wellington. He sits on the advisory board of the Centre for War and Diplomacy at
Lancaster University
Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
.
Research
Strachan's early research and published work focussed on the history of the British Army, and he was awarded the
Templer Medal The Society for Army Historical Research is a learned society, founded in 1921 to foster "interest in the history and traditions of British and Commonwealth armies, and to encourage research in these fields." It is one of the oldest societies of it ...
for ''From Waterloo to Balaclava'' and the Westminster Medal for ''The Politics of the British Army''. Commissioned by the
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
to write a history of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
to replace C. R. M. F. Cruttwell's one-volume '' A History of the Great War, 1914-1918'', Strachan completed the first of three volumes, '' The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms'' in 2001 to wide acclaim and is acknowledged as one of the world's authorities on the subject. Accompanying the print publication of his one volume survey ''The First World War'' (2004) was a multi-part documentary series for television entitled ''The First World War'', with some episodes being titled after the chapters in the written work. This set was also released on DVD by Image Entertainment.
According to Jonathan Boff, he became "the most influential British historian of the First World War of his generation." He broke through traditional intra-disciplinary boundaries and national borders. He tirelessly encouraged others, both inside academia and out. His impact produces histories of the Great War that are global and multi-dimensional, while rooted in the detail of military operations. The results exemplify the new military historiography.
Strachan is editor of the ''Great Battles'' series published by
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
Views
In January 2014, Strachan told ''
The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
'' that President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's failures in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
have shown that he is "chronically incapable" of military strategy. He said, "
Bush
Bush commonly refers to:
* Shrub, a small or medium woody plant
Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to:
People
* Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name
**Bush family, a prominent American family that includes:
*** ...
may have had totally fanciful political objectives in terms of trying to fight a global War on Terror, which was inherently astrategic, but at least he had a clear sense of what he wanted to do in the world. Obama has no sense of what he wants to do in the world."
Awards and honours
In 2005 Strachan was bestowed with the
Honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
of
Doctor of the University
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
(D.Univ) from the
University of Paisley
, mottoeng = Learning is success
, established = 1897 (as Paisley College of Technology) 1992 (granted university status) 2007 (renamed to UWS)
, former_names = Paisley College of Technology, Paisley Co ...
Fellow of the British Academy
Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are:
# Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom
# C ...
(FBA), the United Kingdom's
national academy
A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...
* ''British Military Uniforms, 1768–1796'' (Arms and Armour, 1975)
* ''History of the Cambridge University Officers Training Corps'' (1976)
* ''European Armies and the Conduct of War'' (London, 1983)
* ''Wellington's Legacy: The Reform of the British Army 1830–54'' (Manchester, 1984)
* ''From Waterloo to Balaclava: Tactics, Technology and the British Army'' (Cambridge, 1985)
* ''The Politics of the British Army'' (Oxford, 1997)
* ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War'' (ed.) (Oxford, 1998)
* ''The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms'' (Oxford, 2001) (first of an expected three volume history)
* ''Military Lives'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
* The First World War: A New Illustrated History ' (Simon & Schuster, 2003)
* ''The First World War'' (Viking, 2004) (single volume survey of the war)
* ''The First World War in Africa'' (Oxford, 2004)
* ''German Strategy in the First World War'' in Wolfgang Elz and
Sönke Neitzel
Sönke Neitzel (born 26 June 1968) is a German historian who has written extensively about the Second World War. He is editor of the journal ''German History in the 20th Century'' and has written several books such as ''Soldaten: On Fighting, Ki ...
: ''Internationale Beziehungen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert'', pp. 127–144 (2003)
* ''Clausewitz's On War: a Biography'' (Atlantic Monthly Press 2007) .
* with
Holger Afflerbach Holger may refer to:
People
* Holger (given name), includes name origin, plus people with the name
* Hilde Holger, stage name of dancer, choreographer and dance teacher Hilde Boman-Behram (née Hilde Sofer, 1905–2001)
Fictional characters
* Holg ...
: ''How Fighting Ends. A History of Surrender''. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York 2012, .
* ''The Direction of War: Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective'' 2013.
* ''British Generals in Blair's Wars'', eds. Jonathan Bailey, Richard Iron and Hew Strachan (Ashgate Publishing, 2013).
Prefaces :
* ''Flesh and Steel During the Great War: The Transformation of the French Army and the Invention of Modern Warfare'', Michel Goya (Pen and Sword Military, 2018) -
* ''A Military History of Scotland'', eds. Edward M. Spiers, Jeremy Crang, Matthew Strickland ( 2013).
Media
* Channel 4 DVD: ''The First World War – The Complete Series'' OCLC: 63265523 (region 1), 883640397 (region 4) ASIN: B0009S2K9C (based on his book)
* Boff, Jonathan. "Sir Hew Strachan and the Study of the First World War." ''War in History'' 27.4 (2020): 605–616.
* Herwig, Holger H. "Strachan and the Great War: A Lifelong Quest." ''War in History'' 27.4 (2020): 590–604.
* King, Anthony. "Hew Strachan and the Sociology of War." ''War in History'' 27.4 (2020): 575–589.
* Scheipers, Sibylle. "Strachan on Clausewitz: Setting Standards for Research and Study." ''War in History'' 27.4 (2020): 560–574.
* ''Contemporary Authors Online'', 2007
* ''Debrett's People of Today'', 2007
* ''Who's who'', 2009
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...