MHM Book of the Year

The winners of the MHM Book Awards 2017 have now been announced. The winners are as follows:

WINNER – GOLD AWARD

Sea Eagles of Empire: the Classis Britannica and the battles for Britain by Simon Elliott

This masterly text surveys the little-known story of the naval forces of the Roman Empire in Britain. Always in the shadow of the legions, Sea Eagles of Empire restores the Roman navy in Britain to its rightful place at the centre of any comprehensive understanding of the long duration of Roman power.

WINNER – SILVER AWARD

Jacobites: a new history of the ’45 rebellion by Jacqueline Riding

Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, landed in the Western Highlands of Scotland in July 1745. His aim was to win the throne of Britain for his father James, the Old Pretender. Riding places this attempt firmly within the context of the rivalry between Britain and France, and the ongoing War of the Austrian Succession, providing a lively read that combines military detail with wider political and social context.

WINNER – BRONZE AWARD

Air Power: a global history by Jeremy Black

Charting the rise of military aviation, this ground-breaking new book covers both the world wars and the more limited conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries. Jeremy Black looks at debates around strategic bombing, aircraft carriers versus battleships, and how airpower has become the weapon of choice, spreading maximum destruction with minimum commitment.

MHM ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF THE YEAR

WINNER

Armour of the English Knight by Tobias Capwell

Capwell is such a master of his subject that he is able to communicate complex ideas and observations clearly and accessibly. He argues for a specifically English tradition in armour, observably different from the better-known European styles. Well illustrated and with sumptuous photographs, this book is a delight to read.

Congratulations to all our winners and publishers!

MHM Book of the Year 2017 Shortlist:

The Fall of the Ottomans: the Great War in the Middle East

Eugene Rogan (MHM 64)

The First World War in the Middle East was radically different from that in Europe. It is not so well known, but it was certainly no ‘sideshow’. Using European, Turkish, and Arabic primary sources, Rogan’s study reassesses the global character of the conflict to offer a synthesis of one of World War I’s ‘forgotten fronts’.

The Struggle for Sea Power: a naval history of American Independence

Sam Willis (MHM 65)

The naval aspects of the American War of Independence are little known, yet battles on oceans, lakes, and rivers were all crucial in determining the path that the war took from the very outset. Those battles were fought by some of the largest fleets of sailing warships ever under canvas. Willis tells the story of the war from a fresh angle.

The US Navy: a concise history

Craig L Symonds (MHM 67)

This book distils almost 250 years of history into a highly readable, fast-paced account of the US Navy. Starting with the American War of Independence, it traces the emergence of a truly global US naval force by the time of the Second World War, highlighting key technological and political moments along the way.

Air Power: a global history

Jeremy Black (MHM 68)

The Last Big Gun: at war and at sea with HMS Belfast

Brian Lavery (MHM 68)

Written by HMS Belfast’s former resident historian, this impeccably researched book uses a wealth of published and unpublished source material to deliver a history of the ship and its naval engagements. It combines technical and historical detail with the personal stories of those who lived and fought aboard HMS Belfast.

India’s War: the making of modern South Asia

Srinath Raghavan (MHM 70)

Srinath Raghavan carefully examines how the Raj’s participation in the Second World War ensured that Indian independence inevitably followed. He charts the Indian Army’s transformation into a modern, well trained force, officered by Indians with an increasingly pro-independence outlook, while dealing with the economic and social changes that the war unleashed.

Breakdown: the crisis of shell shock on the Somme, 1916

Taylor Downing (MHM 70)

How do you deal with someone suffering a mental illness if you do not believe that such a condition exists? This was the crisis that faced the British Army during the First World War, and it became a particularly acute problem during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Downing’s study examines all aspects of the condition we now call ‘shell shock’, as well as contemporary attitudes towards it.

Greece, the Decade of War: occupation, resistance, and civil war

David Brewer (MHM 71)

Brewer is an historian of Greece and not a military historian, but studying the Greek Civil War as an extension of WWII and the German occupation was a very good idea. Clearly written, with an absence of jargon, this book makes a series of complicated events straightforward.

Britain’s War: into battle 1937-1941

Daniel Todman (MHM 72)

Todman argues that the Second World War needs to be seen in the round, that the Home Front was as important as the Fighting Front, that economic factors were vital to strategic decisions, and that political opportunities were inextricably linked to military contingencies. His book ranges from the high politics of grand strategy, via the statistics of production, to the mountain of individual experiences of those caught up in the drama.

Hitler’s Soldiers: the German Army in the Third Reich

Ben H Shepherd (MHM 74)

The German Army had been the largest, best-armed, most highly trained military force in Europe, and it enjoyed a series of crushing victories in the early years of the Second World War. So how was it defeated? Shepherd’s ambitious, detailed, large-scale history takes us from the 100,000-man army of Weimar, through the expansion and rearmament of the Hitler years, to the eventual destruction of Germany and its army by spring 1945.

Sea Eagles of Empire: the Classis Britannica and the battle for Britain

Simon Elliott (MHM 75)

The Classis Britannica (the ‘British Fleet’), one of ten regional fleets deployed across the Roman Empire, was active from the middle of the 1st through to the 3rd century AD. Elliott explores the history of the fleet, highlighting the important role it played both in British waters and in military campaigns across Europe.