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David Morgan-Owen

Dr David Morgan-Owen

Reader in the History of War

Biography

Dr David Morgan-Owen is an historian of modern warfare in the Defence Studies Department, King's College London. His research examines British strategy-making and strategic thought in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He joined King’s in 2014, having gained his PhD from the University of Exeter the previous year.

David has written widely on the history of British strategy in the era of the First World War, and his first book The Fear of Invasion: Strategy, Politics, and British War Planning, 1880-1914 won the Templer Medal for best first book from the Society for Army Historical Research in 2017. He has held fellowships at the National Museum of the Royal Navy and the National Maritime Museum, and won the Julian Corbett Prize in Modern Naval History in 2016.

David is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Higher Education Academy. He is also member of the Society for Military History, and currently serves on the Society’s book prize committee.

 

Research Interests

  • Nineteenth and twentieth century warfare
  • Military and strategic thought
  • Naval and maritime history
  • Military history
  • The First World War

David’s research focuses upon British strategy in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. His first book explored British strategic planning in the three decades prior to the First World War. He is currently working on a new project which focuses on the War itself. This research will examine how the First World War challenged ideas of Britain as a ‘sea power’, and what this meant for the prosecution of the conflict.

 

Publications

Books:

Selected Articles:

Dr David Morgan-Owen PURE Profile

 

Teaching & PhD Supervision

David teaches modules on the history of conflict, military thought, international relations, and strategic studies. Between 2019 and 2021 he served as Academic Programme Director for the Intermediate Command and Staff Course (Land) and the MA in Military and Security Studies.

Current PhD students include:

  • Michael Keegan, 'A critical assessment of the military and political career of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger (later Baron) Keyes and his contribution to the British Way in Warfare' 
  • Yusuf Ozkan, 'British intelligence in the Dardanelles Campaign in 1915'

    Dr Morgan-Owen is currently able to accept new PhD students, and is happy to supervise PhD projects on:
  • The First World War
  • Military thought between 1880-1939
  • Grand strategy

Please feel free to contact him to discuss project proposals.

Research

war-1172111_1920
The Second World War Research Group

Second World War Research Group

WW1
The First World War Research Group

The First World War Research Group brings together a wealth of expertise on military, diplomatic, social, and cultural aspects of the conflict.

art-navy-ship-the-carrier-class-invincible-english-unbeaten-indomitable-will-invincible-royal-british-military-maritime-fleet-navy-great-britain
Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies

The Corbett Centre develops and promotes the understanding and analysis of maritime policy and strategy

SMHC newlogo 780x440
Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War

The centre promotes the scholarly history of war in all it's dimensions, trains research students and hosts research projects and conferences

EIS_EU_Flags_MAIN
Centre for Grand Strategy

The Centre for Grand Strategy seeks to bring a greater degree of historical and strategic expertise to statecraft, diplomacy and foreign policy.

F673BBBE-71AF-422F-999B-908BE90A05A0
Economic Conflict & Competition Research Group

The ECCRG aims to be an academic centre of excellence for developing sustained, inter-disciplinary research on the study of Economic Warfare.

Events

30AprBalancing Strategy

Book Launch 'Balancing Strategy: Sea Power, Neutrality, and Prize Law in the Seven Years’ War'

Join Dr Anna Brinkman to explore the relationship between sea power, law, and strategy.

Please note: this event has passed.

Features

Political soldiers: Do political imperatives drive UK military doctrine?

The politicisation of ideas about future warfare has intensified in recent years, driven by declining budgets and increased competition.

Ministry of Defence hero

It was grand, but was it strategy? Revisiting the origins of Grand Strategy

With theorists and historians alike failing to agree on a clear definition of 'Grand Strategy', can we look to the past to understand the notion in the...

chess feature

Research

war-1172111_1920
The Second World War Research Group

Second World War Research Group

WW1
The First World War Research Group

The First World War Research Group brings together a wealth of expertise on military, diplomatic, social, and cultural aspects of the conflict.

art-navy-ship-the-carrier-class-invincible-english-unbeaten-indomitable-will-invincible-royal-british-military-maritime-fleet-navy-great-britain
Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies

The Corbett Centre develops and promotes the understanding and analysis of maritime policy and strategy

SMHC newlogo 780x440
Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War

The centre promotes the scholarly history of war in all it's dimensions, trains research students and hosts research projects and conferences

EIS_EU_Flags_MAIN
Centre for Grand Strategy

The Centre for Grand Strategy seeks to bring a greater degree of historical and strategic expertise to statecraft, diplomacy and foreign policy.

F673BBBE-71AF-422F-999B-908BE90A05A0
Economic Conflict & Competition Research Group

The ECCRG aims to be an academic centre of excellence for developing sustained, inter-disciplinary research on the study of Economic Warfare.

Events

30AprBalancing Strategy

Book Launch 'Balancing Strategy: Sea Power, Neutrality, and Prize Law in the Seven Years’ War'

Join Dr Anna Brinkman to explore the relationship between sea power, law, and strategy.

Please note: this event has passed.

Features

Political soldiers: Do political imperatives drive UK military doctrine?

The politicisation of ideas about future warfare has intensified in recent years, driven by declining budgets and increased competition.

Ministry of Defence hero

It was grand, but was it strategy? Revisiting the origins of Grand Strategy

With theorists and historians alike failing to agree on a clear definition of 'Grand Strategy', can we look to the past to understand the notion in the...

chess feature