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 norma ...

of all time periods and places. It includes naval history,

air power history Air power history is the branch of military history that analyses and chronicles the activities of air forces as well as the other organisations, including the air branches of armies and navies, that undertake military aviation. It is essential k ...

, and studies of technology, ideas, and homefronts. It publishes the quarterly refereed '' The Journal of Military History''.

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 * Carol Reardon * Theodore Ropp * Brian McAllister Linn * Jeffrey Grey *

Roy K. Flint Roy K. Flint (1928–2016) was a brigadier general in the United States Army, dean of the academic board at the United States Military Academy, and a president of the Society for Military History. Career After graduating from the University of M ...

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 Robert M. Citino (born June 19, 1958) is an American military historian and the Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian at the National WWII Museum. He is a leading authority on modern German military history, with an emphasis upon World War I ...

, National WWII Museum, 2021 * Jon Tetsuro Sumida, University of Maryland, 2020. * Brian Holden-Reid, 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 Bac ...

II, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017 * Conrad C. Crane, Army Heritage and Education Center, United States Army War College, 2016 *

Joseph T. Glatthaar Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2015 * Rick Atkinson, Washington, DC, 2014 *

Ira D. Gruber Ira D. Gruber (born January 6, 1934) is an American author, bibliographer, and military historian of the American Revolution. Personal life Ira D. Gruber was born January 6, 1934, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Pottstown, Pennsylvan ...

, Rice University, 2013 *

Ronald H. Spector Ronald Harvey Spector (born January 17, 1943) is a military historian, who contributes to scholarly journals and also teaches history. He is currently a professor at the George Washington University. Military career He enlisted in the United S ...

, The George Washington University, 2012 * Gerhard Weinberg, 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 * Dennis Showalter, 2005 * Allan R. Millett, 2004 * Edward J. Drea, 2003 *

John Shy John Willard Shy (March 23, 1931 – April 8, 2022) was a military historian and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan. Shy was part of a group of military historians who examined the interplay of the military, politics, and society in ...

, 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 Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 – October 13, 2002) was an American historian, most noted for his biographies of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a longtime professor of history at the University of New Or ...

, 1998 *

Robert M. Utley Robert Marshall Utley (October 31, 1929 – June 7, 2022) was an American author and historian who wrote sixteen books on the history of the American West. He was a chief historian for the National Park Service. Much of his writing deals with t ...

, 1997 * John Keegan, 1996 * Martin Blumenson, 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, 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 posi ...

, 1992 *

I. B. Holley, Jr. Irving Brinton Holley Jr. (8 February 1919 – 12 August 2013) was an American historian. He was a leading scholar in the field of American social and intellectual history, and his particular emphasis was on military history and the history o ...

, and Theodore Ropp, 1991 *

Edward M. Coffman Edward M. Coffman (January 27, 1929 – September 16, 2020) was a military historian and University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus. Early life He was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and earned his BA, MA, and PhD at the University of Kent ...

, 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 Forrest Carlisle Pogue Jr. (September 17, 1912 – October 6, 1996) was an official United States Army historian during World War II. He was a proponent of oral history techniques, and collected many oral histories from the war under the directi ...

, 1987 * Alvin D. Coox, 1986 *

Robin Higham Robin David Stewart Higham (June 20, 1925 – August 27, 2015) was a British-American historian, specializing in aerospace and military history, who also served as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. Early life and fam ...

, 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 Thomas A. Guglielmo is an American historian. Life Thomas Angelo Guglielmo was born to Thomas Joseph and Maryloretta (Smith) Guglielmo in 1969. He grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, received a BA from Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in Histo ...

, ''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 Michael Scott Neiberg is an American historian, who specializes in 20th-century military history. Career Neiberg serves as the inaugural Chair of War Studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the United States Army War Coll ...

, ''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 Karen Hagemann (born December 17, 1955) is a German-American historian. She holds the James G. Kenan Distinguished Professor chair at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on Modern German, European and Transatlanti ...

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

2019

A. Wilson Greene Allen Wilson Greene (born December 18, 1949), also known as Will Greene, is an American historian, author, and retired museum director. Greene was the director of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites. Later, he became dire ...

, ''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 John Robert McNeill (born 1954) is an American environmental historian, author, and professor at Georgetown University. He is best known for "pioneering the study of environmental history". In 2000 he published ''Something New Under the Sun: An ...

, 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, ''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 Pierre Razoux (born in 1966) is a writer and historian, a French Senior Civil Servant and a Doctor of Military History. He is in charge of the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. He studied law, history and internation ...

, ''The Iran-Iraq War'' *Paul Robinson, ''Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich: Supreme Commander of the Russian Army'' *

David T. Zabecki David T. Zabecki (born 1947) is an American military historian, author and editor. Zabecki served in the U.S. Army both in the Vietnam War and in United States Army Europe in Germany attaining the rank of major general. Zabecki holds PhDs in eng ...

, 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'' *

, ''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 Mark R. Peattie (May 3, 1930 in Nice, France – January 22, 2014 in San Rafael, California) was an American academic and Japanologist. Peattie was a specialist in modern Japanese military, naval, and imperial history.Hoover Institution, Stanford ...

, Edward Drea, and

Hans van de Ven Johan 'Hans' van de Ven (born 10 January 1958 in Velsen, Netherlands) is an authority on the history of 19th and 20th century China. He holds several positions at the University of Cambridge, where he is Professor of Modern Chinese History, Direc ...

(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 Peter Hamish Wilson (born 1963) is a British historian. Since 2015, he has held the Chichele Professor of the History of War chair at All Souls College, University of Oxford. Biography Wilson studied at the University of Liverpool (BA (Hons)) an ...

, ''The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy'' * John MacFarlane, ''Triquet’s Cross: A Study of Military Heroism'' *

Clifford J. Rogers Clifford J. Rogers is a professor of history at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has also been a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at Swansea University, an Olin Fellow in Military and Strategic History at Yale, and a Fulbright Fe ...

, 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

, ''The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941 '' *

, ''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

* Rick Atkinson, '' 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 '' *

, ''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 Geoffrey P. Megargee (November 4, 1959 – August 1, 2020) was an American historian and author who specialized in World War II military history and the history of the Holocaust. He served as the project director and editor-in-chief for the ''En ...

(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