Making Makers
The Past, the Present, and the Study of War
Published on 20. May 2024
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-19-286712-4 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
Finch deserves wide engagement from scholars and practitioners alike, offering constructive insights for anyone grappling withthe enduring complexities of strategy and conflict in our rapidly changing world. * Andrew P. Gibson, International Affairs * Finch's careful examination of these shifts provides readers with a nuanced understanding of how the canon of strategic thought was shaped throughout the twentieth century. For scholars of International Relations, strategic studies and military history, Finch's book underscores the persistent tension between historical inquiry and contemporary relevance in strategic thought. Finch deserves wide engagement from scholars and practitioners alike, offering constructive insights for anyone grappling with the enduring complexities of strategy and conflict in our rapidly changing world. * Andrew P. Gibson, International Affairs * Finch's Making Makers reveals how personalities, serendipity, and chance influence the world of ideas. Some of the most interesting passages in the book concern never-written essays, discarded drafts, and abandoned concepts. Scholars and grad students wishing to set their mark on the field may find these pages full of ideas for future exploration. * Vanya Eftimova Bellinger, H-War * Making Makers is undoubtedly a significant contribution to military historiography. Finch's judicious unravelling of these various projects demonstrates 'how the scholars in question conceptualized and delineated the study of war and expressed this through their visions for the book'. Finch is to be congratulated on his elegant and fair-minded book. * Brian Holden Reid, The English Historical Review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
13 black and white images/tables
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
590 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-286712-4 (9780192867124)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2024
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€98.99
Available for download
E-Book
04/2024
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€98.99
Available for download
Person
Michael P. M. Finch is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Future Defence and National Security, Deakin University. Prior to this he was a Senior Lecturer at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, a Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King's College London, and the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of War at the University of Oxford. He is the author of A Progressive Occupation? The Gallieni-Lyautey Method and Colonial Pacification in Tonkin and Madagascar, 1885-1900 (OUP, 2013).
Content
Introduction: The Making and Remaking of Makers
1: War Now Thrusts Itself upon Us All: War, History, and the Context of Makers
2: Making Makers: Edward Mead Earle, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the Second World War
3: Revisiting Makers: Theodore Ropp and the Afterlife of the Book
4: Remaking Makers: Peter Paret and the Genesis of a New Edition
5: Scholarship from the Arsenal of Democracy: The Reception of Paret's Makers and the Legacy of the Book
Conclusion: Historians of War and the Lineage of Makers
1: War Now Thrusts Itself upon Us All: War, History, and the Context of Makers
2: Making Makers: Edward Mead Earle, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the Second World War
3: Revisiting Makers: Theodore Ropp and the Afterlife of the Book
4: Remaking Makers: Peter Paret and the Genesis of a New Edition
5: Scholarship from the Arsenal of Democracy: The Reception of Paret's Makers and the Legacy of the Book
Conclusion: Historians of War and the Lineage of Makers