The Society for Military History is a United States–based international organization of scholars who research, write, and teach

military history Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians no ...

of all time periods and places. It includes

naval history Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...

, air power history, and studies of technology, ideas, and homefronts. It publishes the quarterly refereed ''

The Journal of Military History ''The Journal of Military History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the military history of all times and places. It is the official journal of the Society for Military History. The journal was established in 1937 and the ed ...

''.

Activities

The society was established in 1933 as the American Military History Foundation, renamed in 1939 to the American Military Institute, and renamed again in 1990 to 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. The Society also sponsors sessions on military topics at the annual Northern Great Plains History Conference.

Annual meetings

The Society typically holds a meeting in the first half of every year. Recent meetings have been held in the following locations:

Current and past presidents

*Gregory J. W. Urwin (President as of 2004) *

Dennis Showalter Dennis Edwin Showalter (February 12, 1942 – December 30, 2019) was a professor emeritus of history at Colorado College. Showalter specialized in German military history. He was president of the American Society for Military History from 1997 to ...

Carol Reardon Carol Reardon is an American military historian with a concentration in Civil War and Vietnam eras. She was a George Winfree Professor of American History at Pennsylvania State University. She now currently teaches at Gettysburg College. Academi ...

Theodore Ropp Theodore Ropp (1911–2000) was an American historian who served as a professor at Duke University. Academic career Theodore Ropp's first teaching position was as an instructor in history at Harvard University in 1937–38. In 1938, Duke Unive ...

Brian McAllister Linn Brian McAllister Linn is an American military historian, who specializes in the 20th century. He serves on the faculty at Texas A&M University. He was born in the territory of Hawaii and graduated from Ohio State University. Education *Ph.D., The ...

Jeffrey Grey Jeffrey Guy Grey (19 March 1959 – 26 July 2016) was an Australian military historian. He wrote two volumes of ''The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975'', and several other high-profile works o ...

* Roy K. Flint

Prizes

Samuel Eliot Morison Prize

The 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: * Robert M. Citino, National WWII Museum, 2021 *

Jon Tetsuro Sumida Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Brian Holden-Reid Brian Holden-Reid (born 1952) is a British military historian. Career Holden-Reid studied at University of Hull, University of Sussex and University of London. He taught at Polytechnic of North London and City University London. In 1982 he joi ...

, King's College London, 2019 *

Hew Strachan 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 and the history of the First World War. He is currently professor of internati ...

, University of St Andrews, 2018 *

John A. Lynn John Albert Lynn (born March 18, 1943) is a military historian who has written on a wide variety of topics in his field, with an emphasis on early modern Europe. Early life and education Born in Glenview, Illinois, in 1943, he received his Bache ...

II, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017 * Conrad C. Crane, Army Heritage and Education Center,

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military offi ...

, 2016 * Joseph T. Glatthaar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2015 *

Rick Atkinson Lawrence Rush "Rick" Atkinson IV (born November 15, 1952) is an American author, most recently of ''The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777'', the first volume in the Revolution Trilogy. He has won Puli ...

, Washington, DC, 2014 * Ira D. Gruber, Rice University, 2013 * Ronald H. Spector, The George Washington University, 2012 *

Gerhard Weinberg Gerhard Ludwig Weinberg (born 1 January 1928) is a German-born American diplomatic and military historian noted for his studies in the history of Nazi Germany and World War II. Weinberg is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Histo ...

, University of North Carolina, 2011 *

Peter Maslowski Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, 2010 * Richard Kohn, 2009 * Jeremy Black, 2008 * James M. McPherson, 2007 * Robert A. Doughty, 2006 *

, 2005 * Allan R. Millett, 2004 * Edward J. Drea, 2003 * John Shy, 2002 *

Richard Overy Richard James Overy (born 23 December 1947) is a British historian who has published on the history of World War II and Nazi Germany. In 2007, as ''The Times'' editor of ''Complete History of the World'', he chose the 50 key dates of world his ...

, 2001 *

David M. Glantz David M. Glantz (born January 11, 1942) is an American military historian known for his books on the Red Army during World War II and as the chief editor of ''The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''. Born in Port Chester, New York, Glantz rece ...

, 2000 * Geoffrey N. Parker, 1999 * Stephen E. Ambrose, 1998 * Robert M. Utley, 1997 *

John Keegan Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan (15 May 1934 – 2 August 2012) was an English military historian, lecturer, author and journalist. He wrote many published works on the nature of combat between prehistory and the 21st century, covering land, ...

, 1996 *

Martin Blumenson Martin Blumenson (November 8, 1918 – April 15, 2005) was an American military historian who served as a historical officer with the Third and Seventh Armies in World War II and later became a prolific author. His works included a biography of ...

, 1995 *

Harold C. Deutsch Harold Charles Deutsch (June 7, 1904 – May 15, 1995) was an American military historian who focused on World War II. During the Second World War, he served as head of research for the Office of Strategic Services. Life Deutsch was born in ...

, 1994 *

Peter Paret Peter Paret (April 13, 1924 – September 11, 2020) was a German-born American cultural and intellectual historian, whose two principal areas of research were war and the interaction of art and politics from 18th to 20th century Europe.

, 1993 *

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posit ...

, 1992 * I. B. Holley, Jr., and

, 1991 * Edward M. Coffman, 1990 *

Russell F. Weigley Russell Frank Weigley ''(WY-glee)'' (July 2, 1930 – March 3, 2004) was the Distinguished University Professor of History at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a noted military historian. His research and teaching interests c ...

, 1989 * No Award, 1988 * Forrest C. Pogue, 1987 * Alvin D. Coox, 1986 * Robin Higham, 1985

Distinguished Book Awards

The Society's Distinguished Book Awards recognize the best books written in English on military history, broadly conceived.

2022

* Thomas A. Guglielmo, ''Divisions: A New History of Racism and Resistance in America's World War II Military'', Oxford University Press * Wendy Goldman and Donald Filtzer, ''Fortress Dark and Stern: The Soviet Home Front during World War II'', Oxford University Press * Ian Ona Johnson, ''Faustian Bargain: The Soviet-German Partnership and the Origins of the Second World War'', Oxford University Press * Michael S. Nieberg, ''When France Fell: The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance'', Harvard University Press * Ruth Scurr, ''Napoleon, A Life Told in Gardens and Shadows'', Penguin Random House * Karen Hagemann, Stefan Dudink and Sonya O. Rose, editors, ''Oxford Handbook of Gender, War and the Western World Since 1600'', Oxford University Press.

2021

* Donald F. Johnson, ''Occupied America: British Military Rule and the Experience of Revolution,''University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021. *

Alexander Mikaberidze Alexander Mikaberidze ( ka, ალექსანდრე მიქაბერიძე; born 27 January 1978) is a Georgian lawyer, author and historian who specializes in Napoleonic studies. He is a full professor of history and social scien ...

, ''The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History,'' Oxford University Press, 2020. * Daniel Whittingham, ''Charles E. Callwell and the British Way in Warfare'', Cambridge University Press, 2019. * Aaron Sheehan-Dean, ed., ''The Cambridge History of the American Civil War'', Cambridge University Press, 2019. * Meighen McCrae, ''Coalition Strategy and the End of the First World War'', Cambridge University Press, 2019. * Alexander Watson, ''The Fortress: The Siege of Przemysl and the Making of Europe’s Bloodlands'', Basic Books, 2020

2020

* Monica Kim, NYU, ''The Interrogation Rooms of the Korean War: The Untold History,'' Princeton University Press, 2019. * Geoffrey Robinson,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, ''The Killing Season: A History of the Indonesian Massacres, 1965-66,'' Princeton University Press, 2018. * Stephen Brumwell, ''Turncoat: Benedict Arnold and the Crisis of American Liberty'', Yale University Press, 2018. * Kelly DeVries, Loyola University, and Michael Livingston, The Citadel, eds., ''Medieval Warfare: A Reader'', University of Toronto Press, 2019. * Thomas Dodman,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, ''What Nostalgia Was: War, Empire, and the Time of a Deadly Emotion'', University of Chicago Press, 2019.

2019

* A. Wilson Greene, ''A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg'' Volume 1: From the Crossing of the James to the Crater (Civil War America), University of North Carolina Press, 2018 *Peter Guardino, ''The Dead March: A History of the Mexican-American War'', Harvard University Press, 2018. *Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia, ''Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Hero of the American Revolution'', University of North Carolina Press, 2018. *Richard P. Tucker, Tait Keller, J. R. McNeill, and Martin Schmid, editors, ''Environmental Histories of the First World War'', Cambridge University Press, 2018.

2018

*Christopher Phillips, ''The Rivers Ran Backward: The Civil War and the Remaking of the American Middle Border'' *Ilya Berkovich, ''Motivation in War: The Experience of Common Soldiers in Old-Regime Europe'' *Steven L. Ossad, ''Omar Nelson Bradley: America’s GI General'' *Paul R. Bartrop and Michael Dickerman, ''The Holocaust: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection'', (4 vols.)

2017

*Mark Edward Lender and Garry Wheeler Stone, ''Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle'' *

Tonio Andrade Tonio Adam Andrade (born 1968) is an historian of East Asian history and the history of East Asian trading networks. Bibliography * ''Commerce, Culture, and Conflict: Taiwan Under European Rule, 1624–1662''. Yale University Press, 2000. * ''H ...

, ''The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History'' *Laila Parsons, ''The Commander:

Fawzi al-Qawuqji Fawzi al-Qawuqji ( ar, فوزي القاوقجي; 19 January 1890 – 5 June 1977) was a leading Arab nationalist military figure in the interwar period.The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives, by Gilbert Achcar, (NY: Hen ...

and the Fight for Arab Independence, 1914-1948'' * Michael Livingston and Kelly DeVries, editors. '' The Battle of Crécy: A Casebook''

2016

* David L. Preston, '' Braddock's Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution'' * Pierre Razoux, ''The Iran-Iraq War'' *Paul Robinson, ''Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich: Supreme Commander of the Russian Army'' * David T. Zabecki, editor. ''Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History''

2015

Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy FRHS (born 1959) is an academic historian, Vice President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello in Virginia, the Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at ...

, ''The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire'' * Alexander Watson, '' Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary at War, 1914-1918'' * Michael V. Leggiere, ''Blucher: Scourge of Napoleon''

2014

* Samuel 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, 1821-1846'' * Geoffrey Parker, ''War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century'' * George W. Gawrych, ''The Young Ataturk: From Ottoman Soldier to Statesman of Turkey'' * Spencer C. Tucker, editor, ''American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection''

2013

* Richard S. Faulkner, ''School of Hard Knocks: Combat Leadership in the American Expeditionary Forces'' * Robert M. Citino, ''The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943'' * Geoffrey Roberts, ''Stalin’s General: The Life of Georgy Zhukov'' * Clayton R. Newell and Charles R. Shrader, ''Of Duty Well and Faithfully Done: A History of the Regular Army in the Civil War''

2012

* John Sloan Brown, ''Kevlar Legions: The Transformation of the U.S. Army, 1989-2005'' * Mark Peattie, Edward Drea, and Hans van de Ven (eds.), ''The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945'' * Mungo Melvin, ''Manstein: Hitler's Greatest General'' * Steven E. Clay, ''US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941'' (4 vols.)

2011

* Chad L. Williams, ''Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era'' * Peter H. Wilson, ''The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy'' * John MacFarlane, ''Triquet’s Cross: A Study of Military Heroism'' * Clifford J. Rogers, ed. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology''

2010

* Daniel E. Sutherland, ''A Savage Conflict: The Decisive Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil War'' * Edward J. Drea, ''Japan’s Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall, 1853-1945'' * J.P. Harris, ''Douglas Haig and the First World War'' * Spencer C. Tucker, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars''

2009

* Ingo 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.''

2008

Jon Latimer Jonathan David Latimer (1964 – 4 January 2009) was an historian and writer based in Wales. His books include ''Operation Compass 1940'' (Osprey, 2000), ''Tobruk 1941'' (Osprey, 2001), ''Deception in War'' (John Murray, 2001), ''Alamein'' (J ...

, ''1812: War with America'' *John Lawrence Tone, ''War and Genocide in Cuba, 1895-1898'' * Martha 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 History''

2007

* John 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.

2006

* H. P. Willmott, ''The Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Last Fleet Action '' * George 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 War '' * Colin White, ed., ''Horatio Nelson, The New Letters''

2005

* Edward M. Coffman, ''The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941 '' * Robert M. Citino, ''Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare '' * James T. Controvich, ''United States Army Unit and Organizational Histories: A Bibliography''

2004

* George C. Rable, ''Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! '' * Terry Copp, ''Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy '' * Joshua Brown, ed., ''A Good Idea of Hell: Letters from a Chasseur a Pied '' * Michael J. Crawford, ed., ''The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History: Volume III 1814-1815''

2003

, '' An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943'' *

, ''The First World War. Volume I: To Arms '' * Stuart Hills, ''By Tank Into Normandy: A Memoir of the Campaign in North-West Europe From D-Day to VE Day '' * David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds., ''Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political and Military History'' (3 vol)

2002

* Mark Stoler, ''Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliances, and U.S. Strategy in World War II '' * Ronald H. Spector, ''At War At Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century '' * Robert H. Ferrell, editor, for William S. Triplet, ''A Youth in the Meuse-Argonne, A Colonel in the Armored Divisions, and In the Philippines and Okinawa''

2001

* Geoffrey P. Megargee (2000): ''Inside Hitler's High Command'' (2000)Award listing
Society for Military History

References

External links

SMH website
{{authority control Historical societies of the United States Organizations established in 1933