Though part of a longstanding tradition of historical writing tracing back to Thucydides, military history was long seen by other historians as a mere chronology of generals and battles.The subject underwent a transformation in the 1960s when many practitioners began studying the non-military aspects of war, bringing in social, political and cultural factors and creating what was known as the 'new' military history, epitomised by the 'War Studies' department set up at Kings College London by Michael Howard. Awareness of these developments has not necessarily percolated through to the mainstream, although the continuing condescension of much of the academy towards military history is somewhat compensated for by its continuing enormous popularity among the general public.
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