Nicholas Rodger
Encyclopedia
Professor Nicholas Andrew Martin Rodger FBA
(born 12 November 1949) is a historian of the British navy and Senior Research Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
.
Ian Alexander Rodger, Royal Navy, of Arundel, Sussex, and Sara Mary, née Perceval, Rodger was educated at Ampleforth College
and University College, Oxford
, where he earned his D.Phil. degree in 1974 with a thesis on "Naval policy and cruiser design, 1865-1890". He served for seventeen years at the Public Record Office
as an Assistant Keeper of Public Records, 1974-1991. After resigning from the public service, he began a Naval History of Britain with the support of the National Maritime Museum
, the Navy Records Society
and the Society for Nautical Research
. The Museum gave him the title of Anderson Senior Research Fellow, 1992-1998. In 1999, he moved to the University of Exeter
as Senior Lecturer, and the following year was appointed Professor of Naval History. In 2007, he was elected a Senior Research Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
. He served as Honorary Secretary of the Navy Records Society from 1976-1990. He is also a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London
(1985) and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
(1980). He was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy in 2003.
He is married and has four children.
. His book The Admiralty was chosen by the U.S. Naval Institute as one of the best books of the 1980s. He received the Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature
in 2005 and was also the winner of the 2005 British Academy Book Prize
. In 2011, he was named the first Hattendorf Prize
Laureate.
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
(born 12 November 1949) is a historian of the British navy and Senior Research Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
.
Life and academia
The son of Lieutenant CommanderLieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Ian Alexander Rodger, Royal Navy, of Arundel, Sussex, and Sara Mary, née Perceval, Rodger was educated at Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
and University College, Oxford
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
, where he earned his D.Phil. degree in 1974 with a thesis on "Naval policy and cruiser design, 1865-1890". He served for seventeen years at the Public Record Office
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
as an Assistant Keeper of Public Records, 1974-1991. After resigning from the public service, he began a Naval History of Britain with the support of the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
, the Navy Records Society
Navy Records Society
The Navy Records Society was established in 1893 as a scholarly society to publish historical documents that illustrated the history of the Royal Navy. Professor Sir John Knox Laughton and Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge were the key leaders who organized the Society, basing it on the model of earlier...
and the Society for Nautical Research
Society for Nautical Research
The Society for Nautical Research was founded in 1910 to promote the academic field of maritime history in the United Kingdom.The aims of the society are to:* support and encourage research in maritime history and underwater archaeology....
. The Museum gave him the title of Anderson Senior Research Fellow, 1992-1998. In 1999, he moved to the University of Exeter
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
as Senior Lecturer, and the following year was appointed Professor of Naval History. In 2007, he was elected a Senior Research Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
. He served as Honorary Secretary of the Navy Records Society from 1976-1990. He is also a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
(1985) and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
(1980). He was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy in 2003.
He is married and has four children.
Awards and Honors
He is currently engaged in writing a comprehensive history of the Royal Navy. The first two volumes: Safeguard of the Sea and Command of the Ocean have both been highly critically acclaimed. He has been awarded the Julian Corbett Prize in Naval HistoryJulian Corbett Prize in Naval History
The Julian Corbett Prize in Modern Naval History was established in 1924 by Mr. H. E. Corbett in memory of his brother, the great naval historian Sir Julian Corbett . It was first awarded in 1926...
. His book The Admiralty was chosen by the U.S. Naval Institute as one of the best books of the 1980s. He received the Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature
Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature
The Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature is awarded by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, , Whitehall, London....
in 2005 and was also the winner of the 2005 British Academy Book Prize
British Academy Book Prize
The British Academy Book Prize was an annual book award held by the British Academy in the period from 2000 and 2005. Eligible titles were those covering areas of the humanities and social sciences.-Winners:...
. In 2011, he was named the first Hattendorf Prize
Hattendorf Prize
The Hattendorf Prize for Distinguished Original Research in Maritime History is awarded by the United States Naval War College for distinguished academic achievement in publishing original research that contributes to a deeper historical understanding of the broad context and interrelationships...
Laureate.
Major works
- The Admiralty (1979)
- Articles of War : the Statutes which Governed Our Fighting Navies, 1661, 1749, and 1886 (1982)
- The Naval Miscellany, vol 5 Navy Records Society (1983)
- The Wooden World: an Anatomy of the Georgian Navy (1986)
- Naval Records for Genealogists (1984, 1988, 1998)
- The Armada in the Public Records (1988)
- Navies and Armies: the Anglo-Dutch relationship in War and Peace 1688-1988 edited by G. J. A. Raven and N. A. M. Rodger; assistant editor M. C. F. van Drunen (1990)
- The Insatiable Earl: a Life of John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, 1718-1792 (1993)
- British Naval Documents 1204-1960 eds. J. B. HattendorfJohn HattendorfJohn Brewster Hattendorf is an American naval historian. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than forty books on British and American maritime history and naval warfare. In 2005, the U.S...
, R.J.B. Knight, A. W. H. PearsallA. W. H. PearsallAlan William Halliday Pearsall, was a naval and railway historian, who served for thirty years from 1955 to 1985 on the staff of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich....
, N. A. M. Rodger, G. TillGeoffrey TillGeoffrey Till, FKC is a British naval historian and Professor of Maritime Studies in the Defence Studies Department of King's College London.-Early life and education:...
, Capt. A. B. Sainsbury, Navy Records Society (1993) - Naval Power in the Twentieth Century (1996)
- The Safeguard of the Sea: a Naval History of Britain, Volume 1, 660-1649 (1997)
- The Command of the Ocean : a Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649-1815 (2004)
- A Guide to the Naval Records in the National Archives of the UK, ed. by N. A. M. Rodger and Randolph Cock (2006)
- Essays in Naval History, from Medieval to Modern (2009)