Sir Michael Eliot Howard (29 November 1922 – 30 November 2019) was an English

military historian 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 ...

, formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, Honorary Fellow of

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) 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 me ...

, Regius Professor of Modern History at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, and founder of the

Department of War Studies, King's College London The Department of War Studies (DWS) is an academic department in the School of Security Studies within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King's College London in London, United Kingdom. Senior government officials, members of t ...

. In 1958, he co-founded the

International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is an international research institute or think tank focusing on defence and security issues. Since 1997, its headquarters have been at Arundel House in London. It has offices on four co ...

. In 2013, Howard was described in the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' as "Britain's greatest living historian". ''The Guardian'' described him as "Britain's foremost expert on conflict".

Early life

Howard was born on 29 November 1922 in

Brompton, London Brompton, sometimes called Old Brompton, survives in name as a Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, ward in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. Until the latter half of the 19th century it was a scattered vill ...

, the youngest son of Geoffrey Howard and Edith (). His mother was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Germany, who later converted to Christianity. His father was the chairman of a manufacturing company. Howard was educated at Wellington College and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1946, which was later promoted to

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA) in 1948. Howard joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

on 4 December 1942. He was given the personal number 253901. He fought in the Italian Campaign, serving with the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, and came ashore during the landings at Salerno in September 1943. On 27 January 1944, during the First Battle of Monte Cassino, he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

(MC) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy".

Academic career

After Oxford, Howard began his teaching career at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, where he helped to found the Department of War Studies. From his position at King's he was one of Britain's most influential figures in developing strategic studies as a discipline that brought together government, military, and academia to think about defence and national security more broadly and deeply than had been done before. *Assistant Lecturer in History (1947), Lecturer (1950–3), Reader in War Studies and finally Professor of War Studies (1953–63), King's College London. *Chichele Professor of History of War (from 1977) and Fellow, All Souls College (from 1968 to 1980). *Regius Professor of Modern History and Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford onorary Fellow, 1990(from 1980 to 1989). *Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History, Yale University (from 1989 to 1993). *Quondam Fellow, All Souls College (from 1980 to 2014). *Honorary Fellow, All Souls College (from 2014). He was one of the founders of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. From his family, education, and service in the Guards, he had extensive connections at the higher levels of British society, and he worked them astutely to further his intellectual goals. He had close connections in the Labour Party but was also consulted as an advisor by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

Historical writing

Howard was best known for expanding military history beyond the traditional campaigns and battles accounts to include wider discussions about the

sociological Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in ...

significance of war. In his account of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870–71, Howard looked at how the Prussian and French armies reflected the social structure of the two nations. He was also a leading interpreter of the writings of the Prussian military thinker

Carl von Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz ( , ; born Carl Philipp Gottlieb Clauswitz; 1 July 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian general and Military theory, military theorist who stressed the "moral" (in modern terms meani ...

, including preparing a translation of ''

On War ''Vom Kriege'' () is a book on war and military strategy by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), written mostly after the Napoleonic wars, between 1816 and 1830, and published posthumously by his wife Marie von Brühl in 1832. It ...

'' with the American historian

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.

. In addition, in both his inaugural and concluding lectures as Regius Professor, and in his popular and influential ''War in European History'', Howard stressed the difference between traditional military history, which seeks to identify easily applicable lessons for the present from the history of past wars and military campaigns, and his own approach, which stresses the uniqueness of the historical past and the impossibility of deriving such lessons to guide modern strategic and tactical choices. In 1985, he delivered the Huizinga Lecture in the Dutch city of

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, under the title: ''1945: End of an Era''. Howard helped found the Department of War Studies and the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives at

. He was president emeritus of the

, which he also helped to establish, and a fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

Personal life and death

In 1958, Howard met geography teacher Mark Anthony James, and they began a relationship. They entered into a civil partnership in 2006, and latterly lived in Eastbury, Berkshire. Howard died at a hospital in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

on 30 November 2019, at the age of 97; James died two months later.

Awards and honours

Howard was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 1977 Birthday Honours and a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the 1986 Birthday Honours. He was later appointed to the

Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an Order (distinction), order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the Brit ...

(CH) for services to military studies in the 2002 Birthday Honours and to the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

(OM) in 2005. In 1988 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. In 1992, he was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement given by the Society for Military History.

Work

*''The Coldstream Guards, co-written with John Sparrow, 1920–1946'', 1951. *''Disengagement in Europe'', 1958. *''The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870–1871'', 1961. Republished by Methuen, 1981. *''Lord Haldane and the Territorial Army'', 1967. *''The Mediterranean Strategy in the Second World War'', 1967. *''Grand Strategy, August 1942 – September 1943'', Volume IV, Grand Strategy series, History of the Second World War (1970) *''Studies in War and Peace'', 1970. *''The Continental Commitment: The Dilemma of British Defence Policy in the Era of Two World Wars'', 1972. *''War in European History'', 1976 atest revised edition, 2009 *

, ''On War'', 1977, edited and translated by M. E. Howard and

. *''Soldiers and Governments: Nine Studies in Civil Military Relations'', 1978. *''War and the Liberal Conscience'', 1978 ew edition, 2008 *''Restraints on War: Studies in the Limitation of Armed Conflict'', 1979 edited by M. E. Howard. *''Clausewitz'', 1983 riginally a volume in the Oxford University Press "Past Masters" series, reissued in 2000 as ''Clausewitz: A Very Short Introduction'' * ''The Causes of War'' Harvard University Press; 2 edition (1 January 1984) *''Strategic Deception'', 1990, (Volume 5 of ''British Intelligence in the Second World War;'' series edited by F. H. Hinsley; HMSO). *''The Lessons of History'', 1991. *''The Laws of War: Constraints on Warfare in the Western World'', 1994 edited by M. E Howard, George J. Andrepoulous and Mark R. Schulman. *''The Invention of Peace: Reflections on War and International Order'', 2000. *''The First World War'', 2003 eissued as ''The First World War: A Very Short Introduction'', 2007 *''Captain Professor: A Life in War and Peace'' (autobiography), 2006 *''Liberation or Catastrophe? Reflections on the History of the 20th Century'', 2007 *''Fighting with Pride LGBT in the Armed Forces, chapter 4, 2019 edited by Craig Jones ''

Notes

References

*Freedman, Lawrence; Hayes, Paul & O'Neil, Robert ''War, Strategy and International Politics: Essays in Honour of Sir Michael Howard'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. Also available as an e-book. * Halewood, Louis, and David Morgan-Owen. "Captains of War: History in Professional Military Education." ''The RUSI Journal'' (2021): 1-9. * Hattendorf, John B. "The Study of War History at Oxford, 1862–1990." in ''The Limitations of Military Power'' (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1990) pp. 3-61. *Skaggs, David Curtis "Michael Howard and the Dimensions of Military History" ''Military Affairs'', Volume 49, 1985. pages 179–183. * Strachan, Hew. "Michael Howard and the dimensions of military history." ''War in History'' 27.4 (2020): 536-551
online

External links

*
Great Thinkers: Hew Strachan FBA on Michael Howard FBA
podcast, The British Academy * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Michael 1922 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English historians 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English historians 21st-century English male writers Academics of King's College London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II British LGBTQ historians English autobiographers British historians of espionage English military historians English military writers Chichele Professors of the History of War Coldstream Guards officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Editors of the Round Table Journal English LGBTQ writers English people of German-Jewish descent Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Fellows of King's College London Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society British historians of World War II Historians of World War I Knights Bachelor Members of the Order of Merit Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Recipients of the Military Cross Regius Professors of History (University of Oxford) Yale University faculty Wolfson History Prize winners