Brian Holden-Reid
Brian Holden-Reid is a British military historian.Career
Holden-Reid studied at University of Hull, University of Sussex and University of London. He taught at Polytechnic of North London and City University London. In 1982 he joined King's College London and the Department of War Studies, KCL. He was appointed lecturer in 1987, to senior lecturer in 1992 and to chair in 2000. He served as Head of the Department of War Studies 2001–2007, and in 2007 he was awarded the Fellowship of King's College, the highest honour the college can award its alumni and staff. He was also a member of the College Council 2010–2019.
Holden-Reid is also a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal United Services Institute. From 1984-1987 he was editor of the RUSI Journal in Whitehall, and he edited the RUSI's publications, including its Defence Studies Series. In 1996 he became a Consultant Editor to the RUSI Journal, and has continued to be a member of its editorial board and numerous other journals.
From 1987-97 he served as Resident Historian at Staff College, Camberley. He was the first civilian to serve on the Directing Staff for over a century, and helped set up the Higher Command and Staff Course to prepare selected Colonels and Brigadiers for the most senior appointments. He is an honorary graduate of the School of Advanced Military Studies at the United States Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth
As a historian, he specialises in the American Civil War, which he portrayed in connection with the European wars at the same time. He also looks at 20th century British and American military theory, specifically the work of John Frederick Charles Fuller and Basil Liddell Hart.
In 2019 he was awarded the prestigious Samuel Eliot Morison Prize by the Society for Military History.Selected Publications
As author
As editor
- with John White: American Studies. Essays in Honour of Marcus Cunliffe. Macmillan, London 2015
- with David French: The British General Staff. Reform and innovation c. 1890-1939. Frank Cass, London 1993
- with Susan Mary-Grant: The American Civil War. Explorations and reconsiderations. Longman, New York 2000,.
- Military power. Land warfare in theory and practice. Frank Cass, London 1997
- The Science of war. Back to first principles. Routledge, London 1993
- with Michael Dewar: Military strategy in a changing Europe. Towards the twenty-first century. Brassey's, London 1991
- with Carlo Schaerf und David Carlton: New technologies and the arms race. St. Martin's Press, New York 1989
