Academics publish a book with a novel take on military history

Two University of Wolverhampton academics have recently published a new book – and it’s a novel take on military history. 

John Buckley, Professor of Military History and Dr Spencer Jones, Senior Lecturer in Armed Forces and War Studies, have written the book – Armchair General World War I: Can You Win the Great War? - which allows the reader to choose their own adventure at different points in the text. 

Dr Jones said: “The book is a novel take on military history because it allows the reader to make their own choices and skip to different outcomes depending on what decisions they make, allowing them to see how history might have played out. “It was a lot of fun to write and we hope that it’s a lot of fun to read. It’s very different from a usual academic book and shows that history can be fun, exciting and engaging.” 

John Buckley is Professor of Military History at the University of Wolverhampton where he specializes in War Gaming - examining the key decisions of World War II. He is the author of a number of books including Air Power in the Age of Total War and Monty's Men: The British Army and the Liberation. 

Spencer Jones is Senior Lecturer in Armed Forces and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton. He is the author of several books on the First World War including The Great Retreat of 1914: From Mons to the Marne, Stemming the Tide: Officers and Leadership in the British Expeditionary Force 1914 and The Darkest Year: The British Army on the Western Front 1917. 

The book, published by Penguin, is available on Amazon and in bookstores, including Tesco. 

The Department of History, Politics and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton has the longest running Undergraduate War Studies programme in the world and its fully online Master’s Degree course in Military History is the first of its kind in the UK.  

The University’s Centre for Historical Research produces research that is rated 4-Star (‘Internationally Excellent’) according to REF2021’s Project Leader.   

Find out more about degree courses in the School of Social Science and Humanities or visit one of our Open Days.  

ENDS