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.

Research Groups

British Empire at War Research Group

First World War Research Group

Laughton Naval Unit

Second World War Research Group

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

Teaching Fellow

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

Matthew Hefler

PhD student

Geraint Hughes

Reader in Diplomatic and Military History

Tony Insall

Visiting research fellow

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, Culture and Politics

11th Sept - 2020 Sir Michael Howard Annual Lecture

11st September (evening) This event will be held online Further details to be advertised in due course

Upcoming Events

- POSTPONED- 7th - 8th May Raw Materials in International Politics Workshop Organised with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology - POSTPONED- 18th - 19th June History of War Conference With great regret we must postpone the 2020 ‘History of War’ conference, owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.We anticipate that the date will be moved to September/October 2020. However, this will depend on the situation. - POSTPONED- 10th - 11th September Franco-German War Conference Discussing Sir Michael Howard's famous history of the Franco-German War.

Sir Michael Howard Memorial Ceremony

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

9th Dec 19 - SMHC Annual Lecture with David Armitage 6th Dec 19 - NATO/SMHC Conference 20th Nov 19 - Secret Alliances Special Operations Book Launch 5th Nov 19 - War for the Seas Book Launch - Evan Mawdsley 29th Apr 19 - 'Stalinism at War' Book Launch - Mark Edele 3rd Dec 18 - SMHC Annual Lecture with Dr Helen Parr 27th Nov 18 - Writing Transnational Histories of Global Warfare workshop 14th Nov 18 - Cold War Workshop 6th Feb 18 - SMHC Annual Lecture with Dr Jo Fox