Prof. Sir Hew Strachan


1949 -

Historian, for his work on the administration of the British Army and the history of the First World War. Born in Edinburgh, Strachan was educated at Rugby School and then read history at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He continued as a Research Fellow until 1978 when he joined the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst (1978-9). He returned to Cambridge for a further 13 year before being appointed Professor of Modern History at the University of Glasgow, serving also as Director of the Scottish Centre for War Studies (1992 - 2001). In 2002, he became Chichele Professor of the History of War and Fellow of All Souls College, Cambridge. His books include Wellington's Legacy: The Reform of the British Army 1830-54 (1984) and The Politics of the British Army (1997), the first of an intended three-volume definitive history of the First World War (2001), The First World War in Africa (2004) and How Fighting Ends - A History of Surrender (2012).

Strachan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, holds an honorary degree from the University of Paisley and was knighted in the New Year's Honours List of 2013 for services to the Ministry of Defence. He is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Tweeddale and a Brigadier in the Royal Company of Archers (the Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland).


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