Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War

In the 1960s the distinguished historian Sir Michael Howard had a vision for a new kind of history of war. It would be studied in all its complexity and seek also to examine how the history of war affected history in general. Michael Howard founded the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and went on to become Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford and Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. Inspired by Howard’s ambitious agenda, the study of the history of war has flourished at King’s College London. It now has more historians studying war than any other comparable institution.

The Centre promotes the scholarly history of war in all its dimensions, trains research students and hosts research projects and conferences. It also runs a flourishing MA in the History of War. We promote the study of the history of war from the ancient world to the recent past, dealing not just with the history of armed services but also all involved in warfare. War has been a central feature of human history and requires study by historians from many different vantage points - from economic history to cultural history, from international history to the history of science and technology.

Sir Michael Howard Centre Annual Lecture

Every year the Centre hosts a major lecture from a prestigious speaker on an aspect of historical war.

2020 Lecture: Sir Michael Howard and Clausewitz

In the first Annual Lecture since the death of Sir Michael Howard, Professor Sir Hew Strachan, Wardlaw Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, will discuss Michael Howard’s interpretation of Prussian general and military theorist, Carl von Clausewitz.

Further information and registration

Members

Niall Barr

Deputy Dean of Academic Studies (Education)

Tim Benbow

Reader in Strategic Studies

John Bew

Professor in History and Foreign Policy

Carl Bridge

Professor of Australian Studies

Peter Busch

Senior Lecturer

Rudra Chaudhuri

Senior Lecturer

Andrea Chiampan

Visiting Senior Research Fellow

Thomas Colley

Visiting Research Fellow in War Studies

Santanu Das

Professor of English Literature

Huw Davies

Reader in Early Modern Military History

Christopher Dillon

Senior Lecturer in Modern German History

Huw Dylan

Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies and International Security

David Easter

War Studies Online Academic Director

David Edgerton

Hans Rausing Professor of the History of Science and Technology and Professor of Modern British History

Reyhaneh Fallah-Noshiravani

PhD Student

Lara Feigel

Professor of Modern Literature and Culture

Jonathan Fennell

Reader in Modern History

Robert Foley

Head of the Defence Studies Department and Dean of Academic Studies

Aimée Fox

Lecturer in Defence Studies

Ian Gooderson

Senior Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department

Michael Goodman

Head of Department; Dean of Research Impact

Andrew Gordon

Reader in the Defence Studies Department

Christina Goulter

Senior Lecturer

Bérénice Guyot-Réchard

Senior Lecturer in Twentieth-Century International History

David Hall

Senior Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department

Peter Heather

Professor of Medieval History

Geraint Hughes

Reader in Diplomatic and Military History

Tony Insall

Senior Visiting Research Fellow

Frederic Ischebeck-Baum

Fellow of the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War

Ashley Jackson

Professor of Imperial and Military History

Alan James

Senior Lecturer

David Jordan

Senior Lecturer & Academic Director for the Air elements of the Advanced Command and Staff Course

Saul Kelly

Reader at the Defence Studies Department

Greg Kennedy

Professor of Strategic Foreign Policy

Charlie Laderman

Lecturer in International History

Andrew Lambert

Laughton Professor of Naval History

Nick Lloyd

Reader in Military & Imperial History

Joe Maiolo

Professor of International History

Helen McCartney

Reader in Defence Studies

Simon Moody

Lecturer

David Morgan-Owen

Senior Lecturer

William Philpott

Professor of the History of Warfare

Jon Robb-Webb

Lecturer

Michael Rowe

Reader in European History

Maeve Ryan

Lecturer in History and Grand Strategy

Christian Tripodi

Senior Lecturer

Chris Tuck

Reader

Kate Utting

Director of Academic Studies, Royal College of Defence Studies

Richard Vinen

Professor of History

Patrick Wright FBA

Emeritus Professor of Literature, History and Politics

Sir Michael Howard Memorial Service

On Tuesday 25th February Sir Michael Howard’s friends and family gathered in the Chapel at King’s for a celebration of his life and achievements. Organised by The Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War and attended by King’s College London President and Principal Ed Byrne, Chair of the Council Lord Geidt and royal representatives.

Memorial for Sir Michael Howard, remembering Britain's greatest practitioner of military history

Previous events

SMHC Annual Lecture - Dec 2019

Mobilising resources for war, KCL/All Souls Conference - Dec 2019

NATO @ 70, Past and Present conference - Dec 2019

Armageddon: The Second World War in Comparative Perspective - June 2019

SMHC Annual Lecture - Dec 2018

Early Cold War: New Perspectives - Nov 18

Applied History The British Army and the Study of War - Jun 2018

The Peoples' Wars? - The Second World War In Socio-Political Perspective - Jun 2018

British Empire at War Research Group

The British Empire at War Research Group is a forum for scholars interested in all aspects of the British Empire’s war history, particularly the Empire’s participation in world wars.

The British Empire at War Research Group

First World War Research Group

The First World War Research Group brings together a wealth of expertise on military, diplomatic, social, and cultural aspects of the conflict.

First World War Research Group

Laughton Naval Unit

The Laughton Unit educates and researches in the field of naval history and maritime strategy to support and shape the evolution of naval history as a tool across a broad spectrum of disciplines and debates in the world around us.

Laughton Naval Unit

Second World War Research Group

The Second World War Research Group aims to promote innovative research on the conflict and its global aspects and act as a forum for bringing together new perspectives as well as encouraging collaboration across the scholarly community through conferences, seminars and other events.

Second World War Research Group