The Society for Military History Public Page

11/17/2025

The 2026 Summer Seminar in Military History is now accepting applications! Join top scholars & peers for an immersive experience in historical analysis, strategic thinking, and professional development.

🗓 Deadline: December 12, 2025
📄 What to submit: Application form, 2-page Letter of Interest, & CV/Resume
🔗 Details & forms: https://t.co/yNa20EyKs9

This is more than a seminar—it’s a launchpad.

Virginia Military Institute George C. Marshall Foundation

11/14/2025

🔥 Frontier warfare, myth-busting, and one of the Revolution’s boldest campaigns

Eric Sterner’s Till the Extinction of this Rebellion reexamines George Rogers Clark’s audacious 1778–1779 Illinois campaign—not as folklore, but as a gritty, complex military operation. Reviewed by Leonard A. Lederman in the Journal of Military History (Vol. 89, No. 4, pp. 1046–47), this book strips away heroic legend to reveal Clark’s strategic missteps, partisan violence, and the high-stakes diplomacy behind the western theater of the American Revolution.

📘 A must-read for anyone interested in Revolutionary War strategy, Native alliances, and the contested legacy of frontier commanders.

🔗 Read the review: https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html

11/12/2025

🇺🇸 This Veterans Day, revisit a turning point in how America honors its warriors.

In A Debt of Gratitude, Glenn Robins explores how President Jimmy Carter brought Vietnam veterans’ struggles into the national spotlight. Jonathan Cellon’s review in the Journal of Military History unpacks Carter’s quiet but pivotal role in reshaping public memory and veteran policy.

📖 Read the review in The Journal of Military History, Vol. 89, No. 4 (October 2025), pp. 1106–1108.
🔗 Access the review via https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html

11/10/2025

🇺🇸🇹🇼 “Imperium in Imperio: GI Joe’s Jurisdiction in Early Cold War Taiwan”

What happens when foreign troops enjoy legal immunity in a fragile ally’s territory? Kuan-Jen Chen’s Journal of Military History article explores how Chiang Kai-shek balanced U.S. military aid with domestic legitimacy—negotiating jurisdiction over American GIs in Taiwan during the early Cold War.

📘 A revealing look at diplomacy, sovereignty, and Cold War power dynamics.
📍 JMH, Vol. 89, No. 4 (Oct. 2025), pp. 1006–1026
🔗 Read it: https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html



📸 by Copilot

11/07/2025

⚔️ What if the West’s rise wasn’t inevitable—but structured by war itself?

In The Dark Path, the late Williamson Murray explores how the logic and structure of warfare shaped the political and cultural dominance of the West. Reviewed by Eliot A. Cohen and Clifford J. Rogers in the Journal of Military History (Vol. 87, No. 4, pp. 1027–30), this provocative book challenges conventional narratives and invites debate on the costs and consequences of military power.

📘 Two leading scholars weigh in on Murray’s final work—don’t miss their insights.

🔗 Read the review: https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html

11/03/2025

🌙⚔️ How the Ottoman Empire helped shape the modern world

Si Sheppard’s Crescent Dawn offers a sweeping look at the rise of Ottoman sea power, diplomacy, and statecraft—and how it helped forge the foundations of the modern age.

📘 Casper D. Hileman’s review in the Journal of Military History (Vol. 89, No. 4, pp. 1038–39) highlights Sheppard’s global lens and narrative power, tracing the empire’s influence from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.

🔗 Read the review: https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html

10/30/2025

🌊 How the Pacific shaped America’s naval rise—long before Pearl Harbor.

In The Pacific’s New Navies, Thomas M. Jamison reveals how 19th-century naval rivalries across Chile, Japan, China, and Peru pushed the U.S. to modernize its fleet and stake its claim as a Pacific power.

📘 Corbin Williamson’s review in the Journal of Military History (Vol. 89, No. 4, pp. 1064–65) highlights Jamison’s transnational approach and fresh insights into the origins of U.S. sea power.

🔗 Read the review via JMH: https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html

10/28/2025

🪖 Passionate about military history? Join the Society for Military History and get the Journal of Military History delivered quarterly.

Membership connects you to a global community of scholars, veterans, and educators—plus access to back issues, conference opportunities, student discounts, and travel grants.

🔗 Join today and support the study of war, strategy, and society across generations. https://www.smh-hq.org/membership/in

Student applicants: You must include the name of the institution you are attending and the signature of a professor under whom you are working. Method 3: Join Without a Membership Application FormIf you prefer not to join online and are not able to download the application, determine the appropriat...

10/26/2025

🏘️⚔️ Barracks or Brawls? Palermo’s Struggle to House Soldiers ⚔️🏘️

In 17th-century Palermo, quartering troops wasn’t just a logistical headache—it was a recipe for street fights, civic unrest, and political improvisation. Aitor Aguilar Esteban’s new article in the Journal of Military History dives into the messy, violent, and ultimately transformative process of garrisoning soldiers in a city caught between plague, politics, and public resistance.

📚 “Between Disruption, Violence, and Accommodation: The Quartering Process in Palermo (1580–1650)”
📍 Journal of Military History, Vol. 89, No. 4 (Oct. 2025), pp. 833–857
🔗 Read it at https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html



📸 by Copilot

10/23/2025

🏔️ “Freedom of the Hills: The Tenth Mountain Division and the Opening of the Vertical Frontier” by Margaret Sutton Berry

What if the American frontier didn’t vanish—it just went uphill?

This article reimagines frontier mythology through WWII’s ski troopers, who carved new narratives into alpine terrain.

📘 Mountains became spaces of freedom, expansion, and modern identity.

🔗 Read the full article: https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html

10/21/2025

🪖 Infantry: A Global History by Jeremy Black
📖 Reviewed by Jonathan Abel

👣 From phalanxes to modern platoons, the foot soldier has always been the backbone of battle.
Across cultures, continents, and centuries, infantry shaped the way wars were fought—and won.

🌍 This review takes you on a global journey through the evolution of ground combat and its strategic impact.

📘 A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the human face of warfare.
🔗 Available now in the Journal of Military History - https://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/online.html

10/19/2025

📚🔥 Ready to dive deep into military history this summer?

The 2026 Summer Seminar in Military History is now accepting applications! Join top scholars & peers for an immersive experience in historical analysis, strategic thinking, and professional development.

🗓 Deadline: December 12, 2025
📄 What to submit: Application form, 2-page Letter of Interest, & CV/Resume
🔗 Details & forms: https://t.co/yNa20EyKs9

This is more than a seminar—it’s a launchpad.

Virginia Military Institute George C. Marshall Foundation