War and Society in Modern American History

Andrew Preston, Cambridge University

What is military history today? Is it traditional “drum-and-bugle” or “operational” history, which examines how wars are fought and won on the battlefield? Or is it what’s called the “new military history” (though it’s not so new anymore), often also known as the study of “war and society,” the more appropriate focus? Despite its title, this course doesn’t take a side in this debate, but is instead premised on the notion that both approaches are equally valid but not always equally relevant; and upon the notion that students of American history don’t always give proper attention to the important influence of military affairs on other aspects of U.S. history (women’s suffrage? civil rights? immigration? suburbanization? Yes to all of the above). In studying the broader course of the history of the modern United States, and how it has been significantly shaped by the military and warfare, this MPhil option aims to give students a better awareness of the capaciousness of military history and, with it, a better understanding of some of the most exciting trends in American historiography.