General Warfare

What Does It Take to Earn a Military History Degree?

by Scott Manning March 11, 2013
Thumbnail image for What Does It Take to Earn a Military History Degree?

Several folks have asked me about my experience acquiring a bachelor’s in military history. While I cannot answer what goes into a military history degree at every university offering it, I can highlight what it took me to finish mine at AMU. In short, it was 121 credit hours, which translated to 41 courses and [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Defining Grand Strategy Succinctly

by Scott Manning March 6, 2013
Thumbnail image for Defining Grand Strategy Succinctly

Those studying political and military history will inevitably come across the term “grand strategy.” Books on grand strategy are becoming more prevalent nowadays, but the basic concept is not always clear to laymen, but it can be crucial in understanding historical outcomes. For example, to explain why America never lost a single battle during the [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Why Military History Prior to 1939 is Important

by Scott Manning January 29, 2013
Thumbnail image for Why Military History Prior to 1939 is Important

I am making my way through Jeremy Black’s Rethinking Military History (2004). Now that I can own a copy that costs less $89, I am ready to rethink. In it, Black sees a problem among American leaders in that if they do study history, they rarely venture further back than World War II. Indeed, despite [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

History raises more questions than it answers

by Scott Manning January 27, 2013
Thumbnail image for History raises more questions than it answers

In reading the introduction to The Past as Prologue (2006), Williamson Murray puts forth some succinct, yet profound thoughts on history. His overall thesis is that studying military history is critical for not only officers, but for state leaders as well. Murray immediately recognizes that “current senior leaders seem to have neither the time nor [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

West Point’s Great Captains before Napoleon and Who They Snubbed

by Scott Manning September 4, 2012
Thumbnail image for West Point’s Great Captains before Napoleon and Who They Snubbed

Some of my most cherished books are my West Point atlases. These thick, spiral-bound works offer loads of maps to supplement the hundreds of war books that fill my shelves. My latest purchase is Summaries of Selected Military Campaigns, published in 1961. Unlike the other West Point atlases, this book has some text around each [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Can War Exist Without the State?

by Scott Manning August 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for Can War Exist Without the State?

Yesterday, we examined John Keegan’s question, Does war-making define the state? Phrased differently, can a state exist without war? Today, we ask a different question, can war exist without the state? If a state cannot exist without war and war cannot exist without state, then we find ourselves pondering military history’s chicken-or-egg question. Meaning, did [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Does War-making Define States?

by Scott Manning August 30, 2012
Thumbnail image for Does War-making Define States?

The late historian John Keegan (1934-2012) posed the question in 1998. More specifically, is war-making required of a state? Of course, few reading this article live in a country that has not experienced war in its recent history. Even peaceful countries like Canada received their identities from the performance of their militia and regular soldiers [...]

0 comments Read the full article →