
Making Makers presents a comprehensive history of a seminal work of scholarship which has exerted a persistent attraction for scholars of war and strategy: Makers of Modern Strategy. It reveals the processes by which scholars conceived and devised the book, considering both successful and failed attempts to make and remake the work across the twentieth century, and illuminating its impact and legacy. It explains how and why these influential volumes took their particular forms, unearths the broader intellectual processes that shaped them, and reflects on the academic parameters of the study of war in the twentieth century. In presenting a complete genesis of the Makers project in the context of intellectual trends and historical contingency, this book reflects on a more complex and nuanced appraisal of the development of scholarship on war. In so doing it also offers contributions to the intellectual biographies of key figures in the history of war in the twentieth century, such as Edward Mead Earle, Peter Paret, Gordon Craig, and Theodore Ropp. Making Makers contributes to an intellectual history of military history and contextualises the place of history and historians in strategic and security studies. It is not only a history of the book, but a history of the networks of scholars involved in its creation, their careers, and lines of patronage, crossing international boundaries, from Europe to the USA, to Asia and Australia. It is an investigation of ideas, individuals, and groups, of work completed and scholarship produced, as well as contingency and opportunities missed.
How did the seminal text 'Makers of Modern Strategy' emerge and evolve to define the academic study of war throughout the twentieth century? Michael P. M. Finch examines the intellectual genesis, collaborative networks, and institutional pressures that shaped this influential work. By analyzing the careers and patronage of key figures like Edward Mead Earle and Peter Paret, the author provides a critical appraisal of how military history became a formal discipline within strategic and security studies.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts recognize this work as a significant contribution to the historiography of strategic studies and the sociology of academic knowledge. Readers frequently note the meticulous archival research and the depth of insight provided into the professional lives of influential military historians.
Page Count:
288
Publication Date:
2024-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192867121
ISBN-13:
9780192867124
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