Lynn Montross was born in

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

in 1895, and lived in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, before moving to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He studied at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

before serving three years in an

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

(AEF)

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and afterward became a free-lance writer for the

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

. He died in 1961, barely a year after the publication of the third edition his most important book, '' War Through the Ages''. Lynn Montross is one of the foremost post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Western military historians. From 1950 to 1961 he was a historical writer for the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

and lived in the

area. Though he only published seven books during his life, his insightful monumental lifetime work, ''War Through the Ages'' (1960), stands as one of the important works of

military history Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationship ...

in the 20th century. It has been used as a text book by various military academies. Montross' footnotes show the influence of

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

's famous work,

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', sometimes shortened to ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. The six volumes cover, from 98 to 1590, the peak of the Ro ...

(1787). Montross translates the style and grandeur of Gibbon's work to a narrative and analysis of

from 490 B.C. to the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Lynn Montross' version of military history is more about diplomacy, politics, culture, and economics, and the continuity and great movements of history than about specific battles, the names of generals, and mundane operational details, though he also fits lot of those into his narrative, imparting upon the reader his unusual sense of military history in the process. Montross influenced Trevor N. Dupuy and R. Ernest Dupuy's work, '' Encyclopedia of Military History''. Not only does the ''Encyclopedia of Military History'' use the same illustrations as those found in War through the ages, but also, interspersed with the chronologies of battles and generals, the Encyclopedia has Montross-like narrative sections describing specific periods of history, or particular battles.

Works

* Cavalry of the Sky: The Story of U.S. Marine Combat Helicopters * East of Eden * Fraternity Row (with Lois Montross) * Half gods * Rag, Tag and Bobtail: The Story of the Continental Army 1775 - 1783 * The reluctant rebels: The story of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 * The talk of the town (with Lois Seyster Montross) * The United States Marines: A Pictorial History * Town and Gown * U.S. Marine Operations In Korea 1950-1953: * Volume I - The Pusan Perimeter (with Nicholas A. Canzona) * Volume II - The Inchon-Seoul Operation (with Nicholas A. Canzona) * Volume III - The Chosin Reservoir Campaign (with Nicholas A. Canzona) * Volume IV - The East Central Front * Volume V - Operations in West Korea * War Through the Ages

References

External links

*
"America's Most Imitated Battle." by Lynn Montross
''American Heritage'', Vol. 7, No. 3 (April 1956), pp. 35–37, 100–101.
Articles available at Harpers Magazine (fee)

List of works by Lynn Montross

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montross, Lynn 1895 births 1961 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers