Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History 2023
We are delighted to announce that the winner of this year's Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History is Peter Wilson for his book Iron and Blood, published by Penguin Random House.
The Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History is awarded on an annual basis for the best English language writing in the discipline. This year, we had a highly competitive field of 47 entries, which were then whittled down to a strong short-list of six.
Praising Iron and Blood, Professor Michael Clarke, who heads the panel of judges, said:
This is a hugely ambitious book recording and explaining, Germany's rise as a power from the Seventeenth Century to the tragic conflagration and its total defeat in 1945. The book certainly succeeds in its ambition. It doesn't just explain this world-changing phenomenon, but successfully challenges many of the prevailing orthodoxies about 'German militarism'. It reads with the assurance of a lifetime of scholarship and will be the standard source for modern interpretations of Germany's military history for many years to come.
Professor Michael Clarke
Distinguished Fellow
The date for the award ceremony, taking place at RUSI’s newly refurbished historic building at 61 Whitehall, will be announced in due course. Professor Wilson, who is President of the Society for the History of War, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford, will be invited to deliver a lecture about his book at the ceremony.
The 2023 Shortlist
Beatrice Heuser
War - A Genealogy of Western Ideas and Practices, Oxford University Press
View publicationPaul Kennedy
Victory at Sea - Naval Power and the Transformation of the Global Order, Yale University Press
View publication
