In early 2002, Sir Lawrence Freedman invited me to deliver that year’s Liddell Hart Lecture at King’s College London. Only after I had accepted, did he reveal that the invitation came with a caveat: I had no choice as to the subject. I was to speak about Sir Michael Howard, whose 80th birthday would fall on 29 November 2002, and the dimensions of military history. Freedman thought this particularly appropriate because I had just taken up the Chichele Professorship of the History of War at Oxford, a chair which Michael himself had held between 1977 and 1980. Despite his comparatively brief tenure of a chair which dates back to 1909, I was already used to scholars, especially from overseas, telling me that I had Michael Howard’s job. Belonging to a generation which had come of age when Michael Howard dominated the field, and deeply conscious of my own personal debt to him for his support and encouragement throughout my career, I was apprehensive, almost to the point of terror. Michael was an Olympian figure, and even – as Maurice Pearton once put it to me – ‘vice-regal’. The lecture was delivered on 3 December 2002 in the Great Hall at King’s, and Michael Howard was sitting in the front row, directly opposite the lectern. Michael died on 30 November 2019, the day after his 97th birthday. The lecture is now published in tribute to him. It is unchanged, except for minor editorial tweaks. It is important to remember that Michael revealed much more about his early life and wartime service than I was privy to in 2002 when in 2006 he published his memoir, Captain Professor: A Life in War and Peace. One story not included in that book was Michael’s recurrent nightmare, which he told me in response to the anecdote with which the lecture begins. In his dream, he is travelling in a London taxi in the early evening. He looks out of the vehicle’s window to see a poster, advertising a Mozart concert at the Albert Hall to be given that night. Below the programme of music is the line, ‘conducted by Michael Howard’. Michael loved Mozart, but as a listener, not a performer. Michael too could know fear, as he acknowledged in Captain Professor.

中文翻译：

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迈克尔霍华德和军事史的维度

2002 年初，劳伦斯·弗里德曼爵士邀请我在伦敦国王学院发表当年的利德尔·哈特讲座。直到我接受了，他才透露邀请附带了一个警告：我别无选择。我要谈的是迈克尔霍华德爵士，他的 80 岁生日是 2002 年 11 月 29 日，以及军事历史的维度。弗里德曼认为这特别合适，因为我刚刚在牛津大学担任 Chichele 战争史教授职位，迈克尔本人在 1977 年至 1980 年期间担任过该职位。尽管他在 1909 年担任的主席任期相对较短，但我已经习惯了学者，尤其是来自海外的学者，告诉我我有迈克尔霍华德的工作。属于迈克尔霍华德统治该领域的一代人，并且深深地意识到我个人欠他在我整个职业生涯中的支持和鼓励，我很担心，几乎到了恐惧的地步。迈克尔是奥运冠军，甚至——正如莫里斯·皮顿曾经对我说的——“副王”。演讲于 2002 年 12 月 3 日在国王学院的大厅举行，迈克尔·霍华德坐在前排，正对讲台。迈克尔于 2019 年 11 月 30 日去世，也就是他 97 岁生日的第二天。为了纪念他，该讲座现已出版。除了小的编辑调整外，它没有变化。重要的是要记住，迈克尔透露了更多关于他早年生活和战时服役的信息，而不是我在 2002 年所了解的情况，当时他在 2006 年出版了他的回忆录，教授上尉：战争与和平中的生活。那本书中没有提到的一个故事是迈克尔反复做的噩梦，这是他在回应讲座开始时的轶事时告诉我的。在他的梦中，他在傍晚乘坐伦敦出租车旅行。他从车窗外看去，看到一张海报，宣传当晚将在阿尔伯特音乐厅举办莫扎特音乐会。音乐节目下方是一行，“由迈克尔霍华德指挥”。迈克尔喜欢莫扎特，但作为一个听众，而不是一个表演者。迈克尔也知道恐惧，正如他在教授船长中承认的那样。不是表演者。迈克尔也知道恐惧，正如他在教授船长中承认的那样。不是表演者。迈克尔也知道恐惧，正如他在教授船长中承认的那样。