Professor Ian Beckett

Professor Ian Beckett retired as Professor of Military History at the University of Kent in 2015. Born at Whitchurch in Buckinghamshire, he was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and the Universities of Lancaster and London. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he taught at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for 15 years and has held chairs in both the UK and the US including Visiting Professor of Strategy at the US Naval War College, Rhode Island and Major General Horner Distinguished Professor of Military Theory at the US Marine Corps University, Virginia. He is internationally known for his work on the history of the British army and on the history of the First World War. He was Chairman of the Army Records Society from 2001 to 2014 and is Secretary to the Buckinghamshire Military Museum Trust.