Stephen M. Miller, Ph.D., F.R. Hist. S.
Education:
Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1996
M.A., New York University, 1989
B.A., Tufts University, 1987
Courses regularly taught:
HTY 106: European Civilization II (from 1715)
HTY 112: Introduction to Africa
HTY 279: European Military History
HTY 449: History of South Africa
HTY 450: History of the British Empire
HTY 456: History of Great Britain II
HTY 498: Senior Seminar: European History
HTY 519: Modern Britain and Empire
HTY 550: Readings on British Military History
HTY 550: Readings on Modern Britain and Empire
HTY 611: Research Seminar – Military History
My research focuses on the British Army and the South African War. I am currently working on two projects. The first explores the nature and practice of discipline and punishment in the late Victorian army. I am looking at what the army defined as a criminal act, how it investigated and pursued the charges, and how it meted out punishment. The following are several questions I hope to answer: Did punishment affect morale in the British army? Did punishment in the field affect how locals treated the British army? Did the definition of crimes and punishments change over the period? Did they change geographically? Using Court Martial records and personal letters, diaries, and memoirs, I plan to look at how British soldiers in South Africa viewed their actions and the actions of their comrades.
The second project is a more generalized study, investigating the role of the military in the pursuit, sustenance, and development of the British Empire from 1850 to 1902. It explores the extent to which its leading generals, Lords Roberts and Wolseley, pursued policies of their own to both further their personal interests and their professional careers, and how their actions affected the “New Imperialism” of the late Victorian era. It also examines how these men through their manipulation of the British media shaped attitudes about race, class, and empire.
Representative Publications:
o Volunteers on the Veld: Britain’s Citizen-Soldiers and the South African War 1899-1902 (Norman OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007).
o Soldiers and Settlers in Africa, 1850-1918, ed. (Leiden: Brill, 2009).
o “Sir Redvers Buller,” in Steven Corvi and I.F.W. Beckett, eds., Victoria’s Generals (London: Pen and Sword Books, 2009).
o “British and Imperial Volunteers in the South African War,” in Sonja Levsen and Christine Krueger, ed., War Volunteering in Modern Times (London: Palgrave, forthcoming Dec. 2009).
o “Duty or Crime? Defining Acceptable Behavior in the British Army in South Africa, 1899-1902,” Journal of British Studies (forthcoming April 2010).
o “Fighting the Other Enemy: Boredom, Drudgery, and Restlessness on the South African Veld, 1900-1902,” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Special Pub. No. 16 (2007): 75-88.
o “Slogging Across the Veld: British Volunteers and the Guerrilla Phase of the South African War,” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 84 (2006): 158-174.
o “In Support of the ‘Imperial Mission’? Volunteering for the South African War,” Journal of Military History 69 3 (2005): 691-713.
o Lord Methuen and the British Army: Failure and Redemption in South Africa (London: Frank Cass & Co., 1999).
o “Lord Methuen and the British Advance to the Modder River,” Military History Journal (Johannesburg) 10, no. 4 (1996): 121-36. (Awarded the Roderick Murchison Memorial Prize by the South African Military Historical Society).
Recent Book Reviews:
o “Historical Dictionary of the Anglo-Boer War” by Fransjohan Pretorius, Journal of Military History (forthcoming).
o “The Last Great War: British Society and the First World War” by Adrian Gregory, Journal of Military History 73:4 (2009): 1360-61.
o “Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, The Boers, and The Making of South Africa” by Martin Meredith, H-Net, June 2008.
o “Martial Races” by Heather Streets, Scottish Historical Review 82:2 (2007): 358-9.
o “Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World War” by Helen B. McCartney, Journal of Military History 71:3 (2007): 935-6.
o “Crossing the Buffalo: The Zulu War of 1879″ by Adrian Greaves, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 84 (Winter 2006): 397.
o “Why the Boers Lost the War” by Leopold Scholtz, H-Net, July 2006.
o “The Victorian Soldier in Africa” by Edward M. Spiers, Journal of Military History 70:1 (2006): 248-9.
o “The Victorians at War” by Ian F. W. Beckett, Journal of Military History 69:2 (2005): 568-9.
o “The Victorians at War: An Encyclopedia of British Military History” by Harold Raugh, Jr., Journal of Military History 69:2 (2005): 568-9.
o “Abraham Esau’s War: A Black South African War in the Cape, 1899-1902″ by Bill Nasson, Journal of Military History 68:2 (2004): 616-17.
o “Writing a Wider War: Rethinking Gender, Race, and Identity in the South African War, 1899-1902″ by G. Cuthbertson, A. Grundlingh, and M. Suttie, eds., H-Net, June 2003.
o “Command and Cohesion: The Citizen Soldier and Minor Tactics on the British Army, 1870-1918″ by M.A. Ramsay, Journal of Military History, 67:1 (2003): 257-8.
o “Christiaan de Wet” by Fransjohan Pretorius,” Journal of Military History, 66:2 (2002): 585-6.
o “The Hall Handbook of the Anglo-Boer War” by Darrell Hall, Journal of Military History, 66:2 (2002): 585-6.
Recent Presentations:
o “British Volunteers and the Anglo-Boer War,” Anglo-Boer War 110th Anniversary Conference, Ladysmith, KwaZuluNatal, South Africa, January 25-27, 2010.
o “British Soldiers, Military Law and the South African War, 1899-1902,” Society for Military History, Annual Meeting, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, April 2009.
o “Volunteers on the Veld: British Citizen-Soldiers and the South African War 1899-1902,” Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, April 2008.
o “Duty or Crime?: Defining Acceptable Behavior in the British Army in South Africa, 1899-1902,” European Social Science History Conference, University of Lisbon, Portugal, February 2008.
o “British and Imperial Volunteers in the South African War,” Conference on War Volunteers, Collaborative Research Center for War Experience, Blaubeuren, Germany, September 2007.
o “Africa and Late Victorian Small Wars, 1870-1902,” Chair, Society for Military History, Annual Meeting, Frederick, Maryland, April 2007.
o “Trying to Find Meaning in a Guerrilla War: British Volunteers and South Africa, 1900-1902,” Western Conference on British Studies, Dallas, Texas, October 2006.
o “Fighting the Other Enemy: Boredom, Drudgery and Restlessness on the South African Veld, 1900-1902,” Britons at War: New Perspectives, Centre for the Experience of War, University College, Northampton, UK, April 2006.
o “Slogging Across the Veldt: British Volunteers and the Guerrilla Phase of the South African War,” Society for Military History, Annual Meeting, Charleston, SC, February 2005.
o “Sailing to South Africa: British Volunteers and the Journey to War,” Western Conference on British Studies, San Antonio, Texas, October 2004.
o “The ‘Ultimate Imperial Sacrifice’: Enrolment in the Volunteers, Militia, and Imperial Yeomanry during the South African War,” British World Conference II, Calgary, Alberta, July 2003.
o “In Support of the Imperial Mission?: Volunteering for the South African War,” Western Conference on British Studies, Little Rock, Arkansas, October 2002.
