ABSTRACT

With the death of Professor Sir Michael Howard, The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) lost not only its president emeritus but the last of its founders and intellectual parents. The foremost military historian of his generation, Sir Michael embodied and epitomised a historical sensibility that informed all his writing. He will forever remain an icon not only for historians, but for all those who acknowledge the indispensability of history and the historical sensibility for any true understanding of present events.

In tribute to Sir Michael and in celebration of his life and work, this Adelphi book collects a selection of his remarks and writings for IISS publications over six decades, as well as previously unprinted material. Through this collection, these works will reach a new generation of readers and be made more accessible to those fortunate enough to have read them already. They illustrate Sir Michael’s role in the Institute’s creation and his abiding presence in its evolving intellectual life, and serve as a historical document, tracing the development of strategic thought and preoccupations from the 1950s to the recent past. In addition to their historical value, Sir Michael’s conclusions retain their immediacy and power. This book is therefore of direct relevance to anyone interested in contemporary events: whether the professional analyst, the student of international relations or the general reader.

chapter Chapter One|18 pages

An interview with Sir Michael Howard

chapter Chapter Two|5 pages

Present at the creation

chapter Chapter Three|2 pages

Book Reviews: Sociology and the military establishment

chapter Chapter Four|4 pages

Book Review: Deterrent or defence

chapter Chapter Five|4 pages

Book Review: Verteidigung oder Vergeltung

chapter Chapter Six|2 pages

Letter to the editor

chapter Chapter Ten|115 pages

Israel and the Arab world: the crisis of 1967

chapter Chapter Eleven|35 pages

The classical strategists

chapter Chapter Twelve|3 pages

Obituary: B.H.L.H., 1895–1970

chapter Chapter Fourteen|3 pages

Obituary: P.M.S. Blackett

chapter Chapter Fifteen|14 pages

Order and conflict at sea in the 1980s

chapter Chapter Sixteen|2 pages

Letter to the editor

chapter Chapter Seventeen|3 pages

Book Review: Offense and defense in the international system

chapter Chapter Eighteen|3 pages

Obituary: Sir John Slessor, Marshal of the Royal Air Force

chapter Chapter Nineteen|22 pages

Deterrence, consensus and reassurance in the defence of Europe

chapter Chapter Twenty|4 pages

Obituary: Raymond Aron, 1905-1983

chapter Chapter Twenty-One|4 pages

In memoriam: Hedley Bull, 1932-1985

chapter Chapter Twenty-Two|15 pages

IISS – the first thirty years: a general overview

chapter Chapter Twenty-Three|13 pages

The remaking of Europe

chapter Chapter Twenty-Four|15 pages

Brodie, Wohlstetter and American nuclear

chapter Chapter Twenty-Five|14 pages

Old conflicts and new disorders

chapter Chapter Twenty-Six|10 pages

Lessons of the Cold War

chapter Chapter Twenty-Seven|16 pages

When are wars decisive?

chapter Chapter Twenty-Eight|12 pages

Are we at war?

chapter Chapter Twenty-Nine|7 pages

Review Essay: History, tragedy and farce