Influential Military Historians

Gents some thoughts and comments.

I have been set a task at uni to come up with a list of influential miltary historians through the ages.

I have posted a list here. Who would you add and why?

Influential Historians of War « Birmingham "On War"

Cheers

Ross

 

Good grief, Ross; where have you been hiding?! Good to see you.
I would add-
BH Liddell-Hart, for his development of the indirect approach based on where the WW1 generals had gone wrong.

 

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Charles Lindberg, of the Spirit of St. Louis fame, could do far more than fly a plane. He could produce, improve and master them. Born Feb 4, 1902 to Charles A. Lindberg, Sr. and Evangeline Land, Charles Jr. was no stranger to greatness. He knew the value of hard work..



Omar Bradley

General Omar N. Bradley is one of five US Generals to attain the rank of General of the Army, or five-star general. Born in Clark, MO., Omar Bradley would become a significant leader in World War II.

 

Here are a few I'd include from the last century or so (in no particular order):

Martin Van Creveld Very influencial in the human aspect of war.

Michael Handel A professor at the USNA. Has written some of the best works on strategy available

Williamson Murray A prodigious author who produces detailed studies of why things happened as they did.

Russell Weigley A classicist in American military history

Alfred Thayer Mahan Arguably the most influencial naval historian of all time.

Trevor and Ernest Dupuy Their prodigious works on US military history are ubiquitious and used by all.



Edward Luttwak

 

David Glanz

Thorough and detailed books on Eastern Front battles and especially Red Army circumstances during 1941-45. And MANY books...

David Glantz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

British military historian John Keegan; U.S. Army historians: Martin Blumenson, Charles MacDonald, and Forrest Pogue.

Greg C.

 

Since you have stated "through the ages" as opposed to just 20th century, you should probably broaden your list to include ancient writers too.
I would think that of the ancient historians, perhaps Josephus is the best known, he wrote many accounts of the history of the Jewish kingdom, up until it's destruction by the Roman Empire.

While there are many more Roman sources available, there are fewer records of the defeated kingdoms, so Josephus stands out.
His writings also cover some of the major figures involved in history, like Herod, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander the Great.

 

If you have to pick between Fuller and Liddel-Hart go for Fuller IMO a much better historian than BH.
Von Clausewitz deserves a place though more a military theorist than a Historian, but his wrtings were central to 20th century military thinking.
Mahan is also very important.
If you go back in History the self serving but fascinating writings of Julius Ceasar were read by generations of later times leaders.
Sun Tzu gets my vote as well but he's another theorist rather than historian.

 

Thanks for the replies chaps. Some useful ones. Yes through the ages would imply writer from the ancient period too. For the purpose of what this exercise was for this was this is the list that I eventually produced. The purpose is to examine the depth and range of writing through history. Of course not everyone will agree with the list it does gives a flavour of the writings that should be examined. You will see that some lower level views as well as some more recognisable names.

1. The Bible
2. Homer
3. Thucydides
4. Julius Caesar
5. Gregory of Tours
6. The Battle of Maldon (Poem)
7. Anna Komnene
8. Ibn Khaldun
9. Bernal Diaz del Castillo
10. Earl of Clarendon
11. Chevalier de Johsntone
12. Edward Gibbon
13. Napoleon I
14. Alfred Mahan
15. Hans Delbruck
16. Charles Oman
17. Michael Howard

As I said this does not include everyone. I think it is easy to create a list of 20th Century historians but to extend this has been an interesting exercise. I have also tried to seperate historians from strategic thinkers such a Clausewitz, hence, his exclusion.

Gordon – I have been busy studying. I am currently doing my PhD. Hopefully I will pop in from time to time.

Ross

 

Good to see you, mate.
Best of luck with the Doctorate.

 

Thanks Gordon.

Ross

 

I suppose one could include Winston Churchill on a list of "Influential military historians", although he is best known (obviously) for his pivotal role in WWII, but he did also have extensive historical writings, "History of the English Speaking Peoples" and "The Second World War", and he did get a Nobel prize for literature.

 

I'm not big on Delbrück myself. His semi-scientific approach to history added some to knowledge but has largely been surpassed by better technique. So, while his History of the Art of War is useful it isn't as valuable as some other works.

 

Hello everyone,

Not all influential military historians are well known. Some have been extraordinarily influential without the notoriety enjoyed by public figures such as Weigley, Ambrose, and others.

For example, one very influential American military historian is Brigadier General Thomas E. Griess (USMA. Spring 1943). While some of you may have heard of him, and identify him with his excellent series of West Point Atlases, what you do not know is that BG Griess is directly responsible for the creation of the Department of History at USMA. He brought the study of history, especially military history, into the mainstream of the educational process at USMA.

General Griess’ vision, leadership, and character formed the bedrock on which the Department of History [at USMA] is founded. – Col. Lance Betros, Chairman, Dept. of History, USMA

And,

[This book is] Dedicated to the memory of Thomas E. Griess, whose vision and energy restored the study of history to a prominent place in the American Army’s blueprint for developing leaders of character. – LTG Dave Palmer

Thanks to BG Griess, the US Army has high ranking officers who have studied military history at the highest levels, and as a result better understand how to accomplish the missions given them by civilian authority. His influence continues to reach far and wide within the US Army due to the men who he selected to study military history at the graduate and post-graduate levels at the best educational institutions here and abroad.

Duckbill

 

TA,

Something about your assessment of Delbruck just didn’t ring true with my understanding of his contributions to historiography, but it took me a while to put my finger on what was bothering me. The following is Dr. Echevarria’s take on Delbruck’s contributions to the writing of military history. It better fits with my impression of the man's place in the growth of the field.

He actually made more significant contributions in the area of historical
criticism, by emphasizing rigorous fact and source checking (Sachkritik
andWortkritik)—an emphasis that helped sweep away the “underbrush of legend” that generally surrounded the history of his day. (ANTULIO J. ECHEVARRIA II, "The Trouble with History," Parameters, Summer 2005, p. 85.)

Duckbill

 

Read him again. His methodology for the time was good but it simply has been greatly surpassed since. Delbrück is to military history what many turn of the century paleontologists and archeologists were at the time. They too have since been largely surpassed by far better methodology. Reading Delbrück is like reading say, Sir Edward Crecy.

 

TA,

No thanks. I do not feel the need to re-read Delbruck’s massive four volume work, History of The Art of War Within the Framework of Political History, or Creasy for that matter. However, I did perform a brief side by side comparision of the texts to refresh my memory, and the similarity in writing styles which you note is in all probability the result of translation and the writing style of the era.

According to Dr. Echevarria, Delbruck’s concept that battle and maneuver presented a dichotomy turned out to be incorrect, but his contributions to the historical profession in terms of critical analysis, fact checking, and carefully checking sources were important.

What is this far better methodology for historical research of which you speak? Do not later historians engage in critical analysis, fact checking, and the careful checking of sources in much the same manner as Delbruck?

My friend, you are too quick to relegate Delbruck to the dustbin reserved for “surpassed” historians. If we were to follow your methodology, there would be precious few unsurpassed historian left at large since it is this progression in knowledge and understanding that lies at the very heart of the profession.

Duckbill

 

Sun Tzu is a philosopher, not an historian...scratch him.

Winston Churchill ommitted far more than he ever included, wrecking his credentials.

For influence you would have to put Fuller and Thayer-Mahan at the top of your list.

Fuller's writings were posibly the most widely quoted of any author between the wars, and much of what he theorised about came to fruition as solid fact not too many years later.

Thayer-Mahan single-handedly pointed the United States in a different strategic direction, leading to much naval spending between the wars that saw the U.S. become the new "Monarch of the Seas".

John Terraine would be way up there for influence in changing the ideas and conceptions of the period 1890-1925.

Small comment about Josephus...much of what he wrote has been lost, and was written to please his Roman patrons.

Lets not forget David Chandler, Correlli Barnett, Geoffery Blamey, Shelby Foote and Ed Byers. All of these historians are widely quoted in their fields, and have influenced the way we see their particular portion of the past so as to influence the method for the future.

Mention must be made of Victor Davis Hansen, the only historian to be mentioned by name in Gulf War press conferences.....

Julius Ceasar has influenced historical writing style and the pattern of history itself for more years than we all care to remember...

For sheer output you would have to include the Julian Emperor Claudius, although much of his best work on the Etruscan period has been lost....