The Lessons of History

by Michael Eliot Howard

Discusses the historical changes from which the European wars of the twentieth century emerged, examining international relations, political and social changes, and the effects of industrialization on the world

Genres: History, World History, World War I, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Politics, War

217 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1981

About the author

Sir Michael Eliot Howard was an English military historian, formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, Honorary Fellow of All Souls College, Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University, and founder of the Department of War Studies, King's College London.

In 1958, he co-founded the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

In 2013, Howard was described in the Financial Times as "Britain's greatest living historian". The Guardian described him as "Britain's foremost expert on conflict".

Reviews

[tazmeen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concepts introduced were quite interesting and thought provoking, however, the writing style almost always overcomplicated what was being said. No matter how insightful what is being said, if the writing style does not convey it clearly, it's a dnf from me. Maybe I was not the intended audience, but then again, it is written in a way that only smart historian people can understand it. Actually, it is, seeing as though the book's a compilation of essays and lectures from Howard's time teaching at university. I wouldn't not recommend this to people though. Maybe they would appreciate the style. But what I'm trying to say is that person is not me.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lectures in this short collection focused on European history in the last 300 years. I found myself very very interested in some of them and bored by others. I'd recommend picking it up and allowing yourself to skip a chapter if you're not buying in. The lectures were delivered in the '80s and Howard's predictions and insights are well supported by the last 30 years. I was surprised how relevant a lot of the discussion was to our current moment.

[Roy McCullough · Rating 4 out of 5]

A masterful collection of essays / lectures by one of the great historians of our time. The essays range far and wide over a predominately European landscape but most share a focus on War as their central concern and, as a corollary, the knotty question of if there are lessons to be learned from the study of history that can be applied to the present. Most of the essays comprising this volume appeared in the 1980s and the work suffers slightly from being a product of its time. The world has moved on since the height of the Cold War. The Soviet Union has disappeared and the likelihood of a military confrontation culminating in nuclear Armageddon seems much more remote in today’s world. But Howard would not view this as a criticism and he would be the first to note (as in fact he does in this volume) that historians and the histories they write are, invariably and inescapably, a product of their times.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lessons of History consists of a number of lectures given by Sir Michael Howard during his time as Professor of Modern History at Oxford. The essays in the collection run in a largely chronological order, spanning from the build-up to the first world war to the aftermath of the second, with some exceptions for various non-sequential topics. Howard's prose is elegant throughout, and his treatment of individual topical concerns is consistent and thorough. However, I found the more sweeping Inaugural and Valedictory lectures to be by far the best of the collection, as Howard discusses the idea of history eo ipso and in relation to the continuing progression of civilization.