25 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Keegan's major theoretical work — a comparative cultural history of warfare that challenges Clausewitz's definition of war as politics by other means.
British military historian whose Stalingrad became a surprise bestseller and whose subsequent WWII histories — Berlin, D-Day, The Second World War — have reached the largest popular audiences for academic military history.
British military historian and strategist — author of Sherman, Scipio Africanus, and The Strategy of Indirect Approach — who argued for armored warfare and blitzkrieg tactics after WWI and became the most influential 20th century military theorist.
American military historian and artillery officer who wrote on Napoleon's campaigns — referenced in Founders podcast strategy discussions — contributing to the historical analysis of Napoleonic warfare.
Vegetius's handbook on Roman military organization and tactics — the most widely read military manual in the medieval West, derived from earlier Roman sources.
Keegan's study of the role of intelligence in warfare — concluding, surprisingly, that military intelligence rarely decides battles, because commanders often fail to act on it.
British military historian who transformed the study of war by focusing on the experience of ordinary soldiers rather than the decisions of generals.
Russian-American military historian and foreign policy analyst — Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow — Washington Post columnist — former Wall Street Journal editor — author of The Savage Wars of Peace and The Corrosion of Conservatism — who left the Republican Party over Trump.
The thesis that between roughly 1560 and 1660 (Roberts) or 1530 and 1800 (Parker), European warfare underwent a revolutionary transformation in tactics, organization, and scale that fundamentally shaped early modern state formation.
Military strategy text analyzing Napoleon's campaigns in the context of modern warfare — examining which Napoleonic principles remained valid in 20th century military contexts.
Robert E. Lee was the commanding general of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia whose decision to fight for his state rather than the Union is a paradigm case of local loyalty overriding universal principle.
Thomas Phillips's 1940 anthology collecting the foundational military strategy texts — Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Vegetius's Military Institutions of the Romans, Maurice de Saxe's Reveries on the Art of War, Frederick the Great's Military Instructions, and Napoleon's Maxims — making the canon of military strategy accessible in a single volume.
American military historian at the US Naval War College whose work on Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars provides the historical context for understanding great power competition in Asia and the strategic significance of Taiwan.
Swedish power metal band from Falun who write exclusively about military history — battles, wars, and soldiers across history from ancient times to WWII — combining anthemic heavy metal with serious historical research in song topics (Poltava, Primo Victoria, The Last Stand).
John Keegan's account of three battles — Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme — from the perspective of the ordinary soldiers who fought them, founding the genre of experiential military history.
Geoffrey Parker's 1988 revision and expansion of Michael Roberts's Military Revolution thesis — arguing that tactical, operational, and strategic changes in the 16th-17th centuries transformed European warfare and created the fiscal-military state.
Edward Shepherd Creasy's 1851 account of fifteen battles that he argued were decisive turning points of world history — from Marathon through Waterloo — one of the most influential popular military histories ever written.
The concept of war in which entire societies — their economies, populations, and moral resources — are mobilized for the war effort, and the distinction between combatant and civilian is eroded.
Robert Hastings's 2008 book documenting hundreds of incidents in which UFOs were observed near or interfering with nuclear weapons facilities — drawing on testimony from dozens of US Air Force veterans.
John Alexander's insider account arguing — against popular belief — that there is no secret government UFO cover-up, but that the phenomenon is real and genuinely mysterious.
American classicist and military historian at Hoover Institution — raisin farmer — author of The Western Way of War, Carnage and Culture, The Second World Wars, and The Case for Trump — the leading conservative classicist applying ancient history to contemporary politics.
Athenian soldier and writer who was a student of Socrates and who wrote the Anabasis — the account of his leadership of 10,000 Greek mercenaries out of Persia — and the Cyropaedia — a biographical account of Cyrus the Great as ideal leader.
Alexander Mikaberidze's landmark history of the Napoleonic Wars as a genuinely global conflict — extending far beyond the European theater to the Americas, Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Austrian general who surrendered an entire army (30,000 men) to Napoleon at Ulm (1805) without significant battle — one of history's most complete strategic defeats.
American military historian and strategic analyst at the American Enterprise Institute (born 1970), known for his pivotal role in designing and advocating the 2007 Iraq Surge strategy. A leading voice in neoconservative defense policy circles.