Strategic Studies (SAIS)
What is a military history?
Military histories can be classified as either primary and secondary sources.
Some consist of primary sources like documents, diaries and correspondence of combatants, as well as official reports and records. Many are considered secondary sources because they offer analysis and interpretations of history. They are often produced by historians working within the military.
Various Official Military Histories
- U.S. Army Center for Military HistoryIncludes histories of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, the Spanish-American War and more.
- U.S. Army Center for Military History TEMPORARY ACCESSThe US Army link above is failing; try this Internet Archive link. We can also help you get print material from storage at JHU. Email librarydc@jh.edu
- The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate ArmiesFirst person accounts written by officers and commanders who participated in the Civil War. Published by the U.S. War Dept.
- Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion30 vol. set published by the U.S. Naval War Records Office.
- Naval History and Heritage Command PublicationsIncludes publications covering the American Revolution, the Civil War,
Worlds War I and II, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. - Records of the Confederate States of AmericaNational Archives finding aid for Confederate States of America records. Documents will be located at the U.S. National Archives.
- Publications of the Navy Records Society (Great Britain)Books available via the JHU Libraries which are published by the British Navy Records Society that have transcribed official Naval archival documents covering 1200-present.
- Civil War Service Reports of Union Army GeneralsOfficer reports requested by the Adjutant General's Office (AGO). Includes Civil War battles and later activities performed in the West against Native American groups.
- U.S. Army Center for Military History TEMPORARY ACCESSThe US Army link above is failing; try this Internet Archive link. We can also help you get print material from storage at JHU. Email librarydc@jh.edu
- History of the Great WarA series of books based on official documents by direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, United Kingdom.
- Germany's Western Front: translations from the German official history of the Great WarOngoing publication effort to translate to English Der Weltkrieg, the German official history of the First World War.
- Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918German official history of WWI, 16 vols. (digitized)
- Les Armées Françaises dans la Grande Guerre (AFGG)The French official history of WWI, 11 vols. (digitized)
- U.S. Army Campaigns of World War IU.S. Army Center of Military History's publications specific to WWI.
- World War I: Online ResourcesLibrary of Congress website that provides links to digitized material and research guides.
- British Army war diaries, 1914-1922These records are the unit war diaries of the British Army in the First World War.
- Canadian Military HistoriesHistories covering WWI, WWII and the Korean War
- Australian War MemorialContains official histories of WWI and WWII, unit & commanders' war diaries and navy reports of proceedings.
- Naval History and Heritage Command PublicationsIncludes publications covering the American Revolution, the Civil War,
Worlds War I and II, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. - Publications of the Navy Records SocietyBooks available via the JHU Libraries which are published by the British Navy Records Society that have transcribed official Naval archival documents covering 1200-present.
- U.S. Army Center for Military History TEMPORARY ACCESSThe US Army link above is failing. If you need a "Green Book" military history, try this Internet Archive link. We can also help you get print volumes from storage at JHU. Email librarydc@jh.edu
- U.S. Army in World War IIA multivol. set published by the Dept. of the Army, Office of the Chief of Military History.
- The Army Air Forces in World War IIA multivol set published by the Office of Air Force History.
- History of United States Naval Operation in World War IIA multivol. set edited by Samuel Eliot Morison
Print vols. at the Eisenhower Library (Homewood Campus); also available online via HeinOnline. - Naval History and Heritage Command PublicationsIncludes publications covering the American Revolution, the Civil War,
Worlds War I and II, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. - World War II Naval Histories and Historical ReportsThe Battle Analysis Series is a compilation of all information, drawn from both Allied and Japanese sources, available to the Naval War College at the time of publication (1953-1958).
- Nimitz "Gray Book": War Plans and Files of the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific FleetThis compilation of Nimitz correspondence with major commanders is called “Admiral Nimitz command summary, running estimate and summary, 1941- 1945.” It is the most authoritative source on the Pacific war available anywhere.
- Germany and the Second World WarEnglish translation of the German official history of WWII edited by the Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Research Institute for Military History), 13 vols.
- Essays by German Officers and Officials, 1939-1945A combination of essays written after the war and during the war, including transcripts of speeches, personal accounts of wartime experiences, and research and development reports.
- Grand StrategyA multivol print set, requestable from Baltimore
The United Kingdom's military history of the Second World War. - The Campaigns of the Pacific War, US Strategic Bombing SurveyAn important book compiled from the USSBS surveys, which contains many translated Japanese source documents and reports.
- US Strategic Bombing Survey [Pacific]: Interrogations of Japanese OfficialsTwo volumes which contain scores of interviews of Japanese officials made immediately postwar.
- The Invasion of the Dutch East IndiesThe first full and unabridged translation of a volume from the Senshi Sōsho series, the Japanese military history of WWII. Downloadable PDF. Translated by Willem Remmelink and published by the Leiden University Press.
- The Operations of the Navy in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of BengalThis book, an English translation of volume 26 of the Senshi Sōsho series, describes the Japanese Navy’s role in the campaign to gain control over the Indonesian archipelago.
- The Invasion of the South: Army Air Force Operations, and the Invasion of Northern and Central SumatraThe present book completes the trilogy of English translations of the sections in the Senshi Sōsho series on the Japanese operations against the former Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), presenting the army air force operations.
- Japanese Army Operations in the South Pacific Area: New Britain and Papua Campaigns, 1942-43A substantial translation of the official history of Japanese land operations in Papua and New
Guinea. - Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, 1941-1945The complete official Soviet history of World War II translated by the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the Foreign Technology Division, Air Force Systems Command.
- Royal Airforce combat reports, 1939-1945These are the official reports which British pilots or air gunners filed after they had encountered enemy aircraft on operational flights.
- Canadian Military HistoriesHistories covering WWI, WWII and the Korean War
- Australian War MemorialContains official histories of WWI and WWII, unit & commanders' war diaries and navy reports of proceedings.
- Publications of the Navy Records Society (Great Britain)Books available via the JHU Libraries which are published by the British Navy Records Society that have transcribed official Naval archival documents covering 1200-present.
U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies, 1945-1961
Covers German military operations in WWII. Manuscripts of the US Army Historical Division’s Foreign Military Studies program. Over 2500 studies, written between 1945 and 1959 by former senior officers of the German Armed Forces, cover nearly every aspect of the German war effort. They are organized into nine series. Two guides were produced for studies between 1945-54 [PDF] and 1954-59 [PDF].
The manuscripts are collected at the US National Archives. Some were developed and distributed as part of the U.S. Army's DA Pamphlet Historical Series, and also published by Garland Publishing as "World War II German Military Studies" (volumes are available via Borrow Direct partner libraries).
NOTE: If interested in the Garland volumes, see the "Garland" PDF (table of contents) at the bottom of this page.
Japanese Monographs, Japanese Studies on Manchuria and Japanese Night Combat Studies
Publications written by Japanese Officers and translated into English for use by the Office of the Chief of Military History, US Army. The same publications were later used by Japan's Military History Department to compile the Senshi Sōsho, the official military history of Imperial Japan's involvement in the Pacific War from 1937 to 1945. In December 2018, all volumes became available online, in Japanese only. The early English translations are available at the Library of Congress or the National Archives II in College Park, Md..
NOTE: If interested in the Japanese monographs, see the "Guide to Japanese Monographs" PDF at the bottom of this page and this link to access the digitized monographs.
- U.S. Army Center for Military History TEMPORARY ACCESSThe US Army link above is failing; try this Internet Archive link. We can also help you get print material from storage at JHU. Email librarydc@jh.edu
- The Korean WarThe official South Korean history of the war, 3 vols.
- Naval History and Heritage Command PublicationsIncludes publications covering the American Revolution, the Civil War,
Worlds War I and II, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. - Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy SeriesVol. 3, pts. 1 & 2 deal specifically with the Korean War. Vol. 4 describes the impact of the Korean War on national security policies and programs.
- Korean War MapsMaps from various U.S. Center for Military History publications.
- Canadian Military HistoriesHistories covering WWI, WWII and the Korean War
Those working on the Korean War may want to review The Korean War : an Annotated Bibliography, by Keith D. McFarland for books and articles on all aspects of the war. Print: Z 3319 .K6 M38 2010
- U.S. Army Center for Military History TEMPORARY ACCESSThe US Army link above is failing; try this Internet Archive link. We can also help you get print material from storage at JHU. Email librarydc@jh.edu
- Victory in Vietnam: the official history of the People's Army of Vietnam, 1954--1975The People's Army of Vietnam's own account of two decades of struggle, available in English. A publication of the Military History Institute of Vietnam.
- The Vietnam War: An Assessment by South Vietnam’s GeneralsAn edited collection of essays by senior South Vietnamese officers commissioned by the US Army Center of Military History. Provides the South Vietnamese military perspective (volume available via BorrowDirect libraries).
- Vietnam War RecordsDigitized and textual documents collected by the U.S. National Archives.
- The Pentagon PapersThe Defense Department's history of decision-making on Vietnam. Also available in print from the Eisenhower Library.
- Joint Chiefs of Staff and Vietnam seriesOfficial histories of the activities of the Joint Chiefs that were concerned with the conflicts in Indochina and later in Vietnam.
- Naval History and Heritage Command PublicationsIncludes publications covering the American Revolution, the Civil War,
Worlds War I and II, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War.
- U.S. Army Center for Military History TEMPORARY ACCESSThe US Army link above is failing; try this Internet Archive link. We can also help you get print material from storage at JHU. Email librarydc@jh.edu
- Global War on Terrorism seriesPublications from the U.S. Center for Military History on military actions that are part of the War on Terrorism, generally Iraq and Afghanistan.
- American Military History2 vol. official history from the Center of Military History. Covers from 1700s to Iraq and Afghanistan. Also available in print.
- The United States Army in a Global Era, 1917-2008Vol. 2 of the American Military History series published by the U.S. Center for Military History. Chapters 12-15 discuss post-Vietnam military actions.
- Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy SeriesThe last 2 volumes covers the years through 1980.
- US Marine Corps publicationsBooks covering US Marine Corps activities in wars from 1775 to present.
- Iraqi Perspectives Project: A View of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Saddam's Senior Leadership[PDF] View of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Saddam's senior leadership perspective
- CENTCOM Iraq PapersHosted by the U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center; declassified documents on Iraq.
- Last Updated: Dec 17, 2024 11:48 AM
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