Author Description

Military history is no longer a compartmentalized area of study with a myopic focus on battlefield tactics and outcomes that pays little heed to societal influences. The "new military history," born in the 1960s, recognizes that military history is as much a product of social factors --such as politics and economics --as a shaping influence on society. Lt. Gen. Hubert R. Harmon, first superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, was a strong advocate of the study of military history to both understand the world we live in and to shape its destiny. As a tribute to his distinguished career, the Academy started a military history lecture series named after him in 1959. This volume consolidates all the Harmon Lectures through 1987, grouping them by theme. The lectures cover a wide range of topics and eras from revolutionary America and Tsarist Russia to contemporary problems in twentieth century warfare and U.S. Air Force doctrine.