Britain’s foremost authority on military events, the distinguished historian Sir Michael Howard, has died shortly after his 97th birthday.
Friends and fellow academics have expressed admiration for the talents of Howard, born in Dorset, who is best known for his analysis of historical conflicts in relation to their social and political impact, moving away from the traditional concentration on tactics.
He was educated at Wellington College and then Oxford, where he was later Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford University. He was also the founder of the Department of War Studies at Kings College London that bears his name.
The academic once told an interviewer he had wanted to be a historian since boyhood and so regarded himself as “lucky” to get his first job.
Asked what contribution to the field he wished to be remembered for, Howard said: “I think it has been to reintegrate the study of war into mainstream history, particularly for British historians.” And who did he regard as the most influential academic in his field? “Me.”
Along with Prof Peter Paret, of the Institute for Advanced Study, Howard translated from German Carl Von Clausewitz’s On War, which is now considered the standard English version.
Howard also helped establish the International Institute for Strategic Studies, an independent centre for research and debate on the problems of conflict, and was twice appointed vice-president of the British Academy between 1978 and 1980.
He received the Nato Atlantic award, the Paul Nitze award from the US Center for Naval Analyses and was knighted in 1986.