Synopses & Reviews
Official history is a misunderstood genre of historical writing, which attracts much negative comment from (non-official) historians but about which very little detail is actually known. This book examines the development of official history programs in Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand over the course of the twentieth century, looking at the ways in which they developed and the contributions each made to their respective national historiography. The second part of the work develops some themes from the first and takes the official histories of the Second World War as case studies.
Drawing on programs in Australia, Britain, and the United States, these essays examine the relationship between the histories, the historians, and their sponsoring institutions. They assess the impact of the histories on historical understanding of the Second World War. They also consider the impact that contemporary events during the Cold War had on the writing of the official history.
Review
Grey's interesting collection of essays conveys great appreciation for official military history in the English-speaking world. It is a revealing survey of how various nations recorded and comprehended their experiences of war in the last century. It also exemplifies two problems common to the authors's work:fidelity and policy. The official historian owes fidelity to the documents, to soldiers, to commanders, to the government, and to the public. In explaining what happened, official history suggests roads not taken, thereby contributing to policy debates. These challenges sustain tension in the field. Grey encourages official historians to manage this tension by offering work that is as preliminary as it is earnest.Army History
Synopsis
Examines the development of official history programs and analyzes the official histories of the Second World War for clues to the ways official history has been undertaken as a form of historical writing.
Synopsis
Official history is a misunderstood genre of historical writing, which attracts much negative comment from (non-official) historians but about which very little detail is actually known. This book examines the development of official history programs in Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand over the course of the twentieth century, looking at the ways in which they developed and the contributions each made to their respective national historiography. The second part of the work develops some themes from the first and takes the official histories of the Second World War as case studies. Drawing on programs in Australia, Britain, and the United States, these essays examine the relationship between the histories, the historians, and their sponsoring institutions. They assess the impact of the histories on historical understanding of the Second World War. They also consider the impact that contemporary events during the Cold War had on the writing of the official history.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction by S. F. Wise
National Traditions
Canadian Official Military History: The End of and Era? by S. F. Wise
Contested Histories: Official History and the South African Military in the Twentieth Century by Ian van der Waag
'Something of Them Is Here Recorded': Official History in New Zealand by Ian McGibbon
Continuity and Change in the Australian Official History Tradition by Peter Edwards
Aspects of Official Histories of the Second World War
Change Becomes Continuity: The Start of the U.S. Army's 'Green Book' Series by Edward J. Drea
Gavin Long and History at the Australian War Memorial by Peter Stanley
Exploiting Enemy Records: The Enemy Documentation Section and the Official Histories of the Second World War by Jeffrey Grey
British Official Histories of the Air War by Christina J. M. Goulter
Setting the Historical Agenda: Webster and Frankland and the Debate over the Strategic Bombing Offensive against Germany, 1939-1945 by Sebastian Cox
Index