NWC News Desk

Distinguished military historian to speak Thursday, March 11, at Northwest College

Posted February 23, 2010
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POWELL, Wyo. - Robert Citino, one of America's most distinguished military historians, will talk about his work and his writing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11, in Room 70 of the Fagerberg Building at Northwest College.

The third author in the 2009-10 NWC Writers Series, Citino's works have managed to reach both a scholarly and a popular audience. He is the author of eight books, most recently "The German Way of War," published in 2005, and "Death of the Wehrmacht" (2007), both of which were main selections of the History Book Club and the Military Book Club.

"I'd like to focus on the notion of my 'dual nature,' trying to be at one and the same time a scholar and a writer," Citino said about his upcoming talk. "Scholarly history in many ways presents itself up as a 'science' and writing is very much an art. Being too 'popular' will almost automatically raise some eyebrows among one's scholarly colleagues. But directing one's written work only towards the scholarly community will result in a book being read by 12 people worldwide. It's something I think about a lot as I write."    

This dualist approach also manifests in his classrooms. While his books earn critical acclaim from fellow scholars, his lectures earn critical acclaim from his students. Citino's book "Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm" won both the American Historical Association's Paul M. Birdsall Prize for best book of the year in military and strategic history and the Society for Military History's Distinguished Book Award. Not long afterward, he was named the "#1 Professor in the U.S." by www.ratemyprofessors.com, the online student rating service.

Others who value his dualistic approach to the interpretation of history include the military as well as the media. During the 2008-2009 academic year, he served as the Charles Boal Ewing Visiting Professor of Military History at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.  The same year, his review of Quentin Tarantino's war film "Inglourious Basterds" appeared in Variety. Citino has made numerous appearances as a consultant on the History Channel.

He was the book review editor for World War II magazine from 2004 to 2006 and is currently the author of the magazine's blog "Front and Center." In 2007, his article "Military Histories Old and New: A Reintroduction" appeared in the American Historical Review, the first military history article to appear in the profession's journal of record in decades.

Copies of Citino's most recent books will be available for purchase and signing after his program. Admission is free.