2012 awards and prizes

Recipients of the Society's awards, prizes and grants presented in 2012.

Samuel Eliot Morison Prize

For a body of contributions to military history over a career.

Distinguished Book Awards

The best book-length publications in English on military history, in four categories.

  • John Sloan Brown

    Kevlar Legions: The Transformation of the U.S. Army, 1989-2005

  • Mark Peattie, Edward Drea, and Hans van de Ven (eds.)

    The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945

    In the Journal: Edward J. Drea

  • Mungo Melvin

    Manstein: Hitler's Greatest General

  • Steven E. Clay

    US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 · 4 vols.

The Vandervort Prizes

Outstanding journal articles in military history, in the Journal and beyond it.

Edward M. Coffman First Manuscript Prize

The best dissertation in military history, defended in the previous calendar year.

  • Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, University of Kentucky

    Hanoi’s War: An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam

    “Hanoi’s War” offers a fresh approach to Vietnam War scholarship. In this deeply researched and superbly written narrative, Lien-Hang T. Nguyen unveils the perspective and motivations of those leaders in Hanoi who made the decisions to escalate the war in the south and to pursue the peace talks in Paris. She emphasizes the role of Le Duan as de-facto leader of the North Vietnamese state from the early 1960s, traces his role in commanding the war effort, and discusses how escalation of the war and suppression of political rivals became closely intertwined. Nguyen’s political and strategic history of North Vietnam’s war raises questions about the limitations of the familiar view from Washington and Saigon. It presents an opportunity for military, diplomatic, and international historians to review entrenched assumptions.

  • FinalistDavid Fitzgerald, University College Cork

    Learning to Forget?: The US Army and Counterinsurgency Doctrine and Practice from Vietnam to Iraq

  • FinalistJacqueline E. Whitt, United States Military Academy

    No Crisis of Faith: American Military Chaplains and the Vietnam War

Russell F. Weigley Graduate Student Travel Grants

Travel support for graduate students presenting at the annual meeting.

  • W. Mikkel Dack, University of Calgary

  • Matthew N. Bucholtz, University of Calgary

  • Christine E. Leppard, University of Calgary

  • Thomas Daniel Sheppard, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

    In the Journal: Thomas Sheppard

  • Christina C. Welsch, Princeton University

    In the Journal: Christina Welsch

  • Gavin J. Wiens, University of Toronto

    In the Journal: Gavin Wiens

ABC-CLIO Research Grants

Research funding for advanced graduate students and early-career historians without a doctorate.

  • Michael J. Geheran, Clark University

    In the Journal: Michael Geheran

  • Emily L. Swafford, University of Chicago

Edwin H. Simmons Award

For long, distinguished or particularly outstanding service to the Society.

George C. Marshall Lecture in Military History

An annual lecture at the American Historical Association meeting, printed in the Journal.