The Last Word: Essays on Official History in the United States and British Commonwealth

(Hardback)

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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.

Reviews

"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
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
[T]he book delivers more than it promises, offering a glimpse into the subtle cultural factors that influence how nations address the art of war and illuminating the shortfalls of institutions that rely too heavily on themselves for understanding their own nature....[p]rovides a worhtwhile collection of readable and informative essays on the state of official historical writing over the course of the 20th century.-Joint Force Quarterly
This book represents the efforts of editor Jeffrey Grey and a distinguished group of official and ex-official military historians to bring into focus a significant but not much studied or appreciated field: official military history. Grey is to be congratulated for organizing and editing this collection. Each chapter is well done and substantially advances our knowledge and understanding of the field. All are recommended reading.-The Journal of Military History
"The book delivers more than it promises, offering a glimpse into the subtle cultural factors that influence how nations address the art of war and illuminating the shortfalls of institutions that rely too heavily on themselves for understanding their own nature....provides a worhtwhile collection of readable and informative essays on the state of official historical writing over the course of the 20th century."-Joint Force Quarterly
"[T]he book delivers more than it promises, offering a glimpse into the subtle cultural factors that influence how nations address the art of war and illuminating the shortfalls of institutions that rely too heavily on themselves for understanding their own nature....[p]rovides a worhtwhile collection of readable and informative essays on the state of official historical writing over the course of the 20th century."-Joint Force Quarterly
"This book represents the efforts of editor Jeffrey Grey and a distinguished group of official and ex-official military historians to bring into focus a significant but not much studied or appreciated field: official military history. Grey is to be congratulated for organizing and editing this collection. Each chapter is well done and substantially advances our knowledge and understanding of the field. All are recommended reading."-The Journal of Military History

Author Bio

JEFFREY GREY is Associate Professor in the School of History at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, Australia. He is the author or editor of twenty books and numerous other publications in the fields of Australian, Commonwealth, and comparative military history.