Geoffrey Wawro is a Professor of Military History at the University of North Texas

University of North Texas

The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...

, and Director of the UNT Military History Center. His primary area of emphasis is modern and contemporary military history, from the French Revolution to the present. His fourth book appeared in April 2010 from Penguin Press; it is titled: Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East.

Education and career

Wawro grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut

West Hartford, Connecticut

West Hartford is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town was incorporated in 1854. Prior to that date, the town was a parish of Hartford....

 and as a young boy delivered newspapers for the Hartford Courant. Wawro received his diploma from the Loomis-Chaffee School

Loomis Chaffee

The Loomis Chaffee School is a premier coeducational boarding school for grades 9–12 and postgraduates located on a 300-plus acre campus in the Connecticut River Valley in Windsor, Connecticut, six miles north of Hartford...

 in Windsor Connecticut in 1978, and his A-levels in English Literature and German from Cheltenham College

Cheltenham College

Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...

, in England, the following year. After receiving his Bachelor's degree magna cum laude from Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

(1983), he attended Yale University, where he received his Master of Arts in European History (1987), his M. Phil. in European History in 1989, and his Ph.D. in 1992. His dissertation, entitled, "The Austro-Prussian War: Politics, Strategy and War in the Habsburg Monarchy, 1859-1866" (1992), supervised by Paul Kennedy

Paul Kennedy

Paul Michael Kennedy CBE, FBA , is a British historian at Yale University specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He has published prominent books on the history of British foreign policy and Great Power struggles...

, argued that the battle of Koniggratz (1866) was not so much won by the brilliance of the Prussian commander Helmuth von Moltke

Helmuth von Moltke

Helmuth von Moltke may refer to:*Helmuth Graf von Moltke *Helmuth Johann Ludwig von Moltke *Helmuth James Graf von Moltke...

, but was instead lost by the incompetence of the Austrian commander Ludwig von Benedek.

Wawro hosted the History Channel's book show: Hardcover History, and was host and anchor of the History Channel programs History's Business

History's Business

History's Business is a program on the History Channel in which a host interviews CEO's about the history of their companies. It appears on Sunday mornings....

 and History vs. Hollywood

History vs. Hollywood

History vs. Hollywood is a television show on the History Channel in the United States. On the show, experts are interviewed on the historical accuracy of a film that is based on a historical event...

, as well as Hard Target,' Global View, and History in Focus. His guests have included Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

, Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger

Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

, Jack Welch

Jack Welch

John Francis "Jack" Welch, Jr. is an American chemical engineer, business executive, and author. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001...

, Robert Rubin

Robert Rubin

Robert Edward Rubin served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during both the first and second Clinton administrations. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs eventually serving as a member of the Board, and Co-Chairman from 1990-1992...

, Caspar Weinberger

Caspar Weinberger

Caspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...

, Warren Christopher

Warren Christopher

Warren Minor Christopher was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. He also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Lyndon Johnson administration, and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Jimmy...

, Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson

Niall Campbell Douglas Ferguson is a British historian. His specialty is financial and economic history, particularly hyperinflation and the bond markets, as well as the history of colonialism.....

, Richard Overy

Richard Overy

Richard Overy is a British historian who has published extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich. In 2007 as The Times editor of Complete History of the World he chose the 50 key dates of world history....

, Stephen Ambrose

Stephen Ambrose

Stephen Edward Ambrose was an American historian and biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a long time professor of history at the University of New Orleans and the author of many best selling volumes of American popular history...

, Michael Howard

Michael Howard

Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...

, Robert Dallek

Robert Dallek

Robert Dallek is an American historian specializing in American presidents. He is a recently retired Professor of History at Boston University and has previously taught at Columbia University, UCLA, and Oxford...

, Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux

Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...

 and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr. was an American historian and social critic whose work explored the American liberalism of political leaders including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy. A Pulitzer Prize winner, Schlesinger served as special assistant and "court historian"...

. Wawro, an expert on military innovation and international security in Europe, the U.S., and Canada, was also—before his move to Texas—Professor of Strategic Studies at the U.S. Naval War College as well as the Naval War College Review's "special correspondent," a designation that took him to "places or events of strategic or technological interest," including Iran, Brazil and the Paris Air Show

Paris Air Show

The Paris Air Show is the world's oldest and largest air show. Established in 1909, it is currently held every odd year at Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France...

.

Wawro won the Austrian Cultural Institute Prize and the Society for Military History Moncado Prize for Excellence in the Writing of Military History. From 1989-1991, he was Fulbright Scholar, University of Vienna, Austria, and from 1991–92, an Andrew W. Mellon Doctoral Fellow, Yale University.

Publications

In addition to many peer reviewed articles and edited volumes, Wawro has written four well-received books. His latest book, Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East was published by Penguin Press in 2010. His
Franco-Prussian War (Cambridge, 2003) was the main selection of the History Book Club and Military Book Club and received a best non-fiction mention from Publisher's Weekly, Nov. 2003.
His Austro-Prussian War (Cambridge, 1996), based on his doctoral dissertation, was History Book Club and Military Book Club main selection. His Warfare and Society in Europe, 1792-1914 (Routledge, 2000) is a standard university text. In addition, he has also served on the editorial teams for over twenty volumes, including The Cambridge Military Histories, which he co-edits with Oxford's Hew Strachan.

Selected television appearances

• History in Focus: 300, Host and anchor. History Channel, New York and Los Angeles, March 2007.
• History in Focus: Bobby, Host and anchor. History Channel, New York and Los Angeles, December 2006.
• History in Focus: Flags of our fathers, Host and anchor. History Channel, New York and Fort Meade, October 2006.
• History vs. Hollywood: the Great Raid, Host and Anchor, History Channel,New York and Philippines, July 2005.
• History vs. Hollywood: Alexander, Host, anchor. History Channel, New York, December 2004.
• History vs. Hollywood: National Treasure, Host and, anchor. History Channel, New York, November 2004.

External links

• http://www.history.com/podcasts/hardcoverhistory/hardcoverhistory_xml.xml
• http://www.hist.unt.edu/faculty/wawro/wawro.htm
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1821457/