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Charles Oman 1860-1946
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaSir Charles William
Chadwick Oman (12 January 1860 23 June 1946) was a British military
historian of the early 20th
century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the
fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were
pioneering.
His style is an invigorating mixture of historical accuracy and
emotional highlights, and it makes his narratives, though
founded
on deep research, often read as smoothly as fiction, especially
in his History of the Peninsular War. Occasionally,
hisinterpretations have been challenged, especially his widely
copied thesis that British troops defeated their Napoleonic
opponents
by firepower alone. Paddy Griffith, among modern historians,
claims the British infantry's discipline and willingness to
attack
were equally important. He was born in Muzaffarpur district,
India,[1]
the son of a British planter, and was educated at
OxfordUniversity, where he studied underWilliam Stubbs. In 1881 he
was elected to a Prize Fellowship at All Souls College, where
he
would remain for the rest of his career. ,He was elected the
Chichele Professorofmodern history at Oxford in 1905, in
succession
to Montagu Burrows. He was also elected to the FBA that year,
serving as President of the Royal Historical Society
(19171921),
the Numismatic Society and the Royal Archaeological Institute.
His academic career was interrupted by the First World War,during
which he was employed by the government Press Bureau and Foreign
Office. Oman was a Conservative member of
Parliament for the University of Oxford constituency from 1919
to 1935, and was knighted in 1920. He became an honoraryfellow of
New College in 1936 and received the honorary degrees of DCL
(Oxford, 1926) and LL.D (Edinburgh, 1911 and
Cambridge, 1927). He died at Oxford. Two of his children became
authors. Son Charles (C. C. Oman) wrote several volumes on
British silverware and similar housewares, worked as a Keeper of
the Department of Metalwork in the Victoria and Albert
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Museum,[2]
and was active in the Folklore Society.[3]
Daughter Carola was notable for her biographies, especially that
of
Nelson.[citation needed]
Works
The Art of War in the Middle Ages (1885) "The Anglo-Norman and
Angevin Administrative System (11001265)", inEssays Introductory to
the Study of English
Constitutional History (1887)
A History of Greece From the Earliest Times to the Death of
Alexander the Great(1888; 7th ed., 1900) Warwick the
Kingmaker(1891) The Story of the Byzantine Empire (1892) The Dark
Ages 476918, Period I ofPeriods of European History (1893; 5th ed.
1905) A History of England(1895; 2nd ed. 1919) A History of the Art
of War in the Middle Ages, Vol. I: A.D. 3781278 (1898; 2nd ed.
1924) A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages, Vol. II: A.D.
12781485 (1898; 2nd ed. 1924) "Alfred as a Warrior", inAlfred The
Great, Alfred Bowker, ed. (1899) Reign of George VI, 1900-1925. A
Forecast Written in the Year 1763 (preface and notes) (1763;
republished 1899) England in the Nineteenth Century (1900) History
of thePeninsular War, Vol. I: 18071809 (1902) Seven Roman Statesmen
of the Later Roman Republic (1902) England and theHundred Years
War, 13271485 A.D. (1903?), No. III ofThe Oxford Manuals of English
History,
Charles Oman, ed.
History of thePeninsular War, Vol. II: Jan. 1809-Sep. 1809
(1903) "The Peninsular War, 180814", in The Cambridge Modern
History, Vol. IX,Napoleon (1906) "The Hundred Days, 1815", in The
Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX,Napoleon (1906) "Inaugural
lecture on the study of history" (1906?), in Oxford Lectures On
University Studies, 19061921 (1924) The Great Revolt of 1381 (1906)
The History of England from the Accession of Richard II. to the
Death of Richard III. (13771485), Vol. IV ofThe
Political History of England(1906), William Hunt & Reginald
Poole, ed.
History of thePeninsular War, Vol. III: Sep. 1809 Dec. 1810
(1908) A History of England Before theNorman Conquest(1910; 8th ed.
1937), Vol. I ofA History of England in Seven
Volumes (1904), Charles Oman, ed.
History of thePeninsular War, Vol. IV: Dec. 1810 Dec. 1811
(1911) Wellington's Army, 18091814 (1912) History of thePeninsular
War, Vol. V: Oct. 1811 Aug. 1812 (1914) The Outbreak of the War of
191418: A Narrative Based Mainly on British Official Documents
(1919) History of thePeninsular War, Vol. VI: Sep. 1812 Aug. 1813
(1922) The Unfortunate Colonel Despard & Other Studies (1922)
British Castles (1926) "The Duke of Wellington", inPolitical
Principles of Some Notable Prime Ministers of the Nineteenth
Century, Fossey
John Cobb Hearnshaw, ed. (1926)
Studies in the Napoleonic Wars (1929) History of thePeninsular
War, Vol. VII: Aug. 1813 Apr. 1814 (1930) The Coinage of
England(1931) Things I Have Seen (1933) "The Necessity for the
Reformation" (1933) (public lecture) A History of the Art of War in
the Sixteenth century (1937) The Sixteenth century (1937) On the
Writing of History (1939)
Memories of Victorian Oxford and of Some Early Years(1941)
The Lyons Mail(1945)References
1. ^"OMAN, Charles William Chadwick". Who's Who,. 59. 1907. p.
332.http://books.google.com/books?id=yEcuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1332.
2. ^"Society Meetings, 18 June, 1958".Folklore69 (3): 216.
1958.http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1258870.pdf?acceptTC=true..
Retrieved 19 April 2011.
3. ^"Minutes of Meeting: June 15, 1949".Folklore60 (3): 305.
1949.http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1256648.pdf. Retrieved 19
April 2011.
"Minutes of Meeting. Wednesday, 20th November, 1929.".Folklore41
(1): 1. 1930.http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1256028.pdf.
Retrieved 19 April 2011.
"Report of the Council for 1943".Folklore55 (2): 5053.
1944.http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1256901.pdf. Retrieved 19
April 2011.
External links Works written by or about Charles William
Chadwick Oman at Wikisource
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Lord Hugh Cecil
Rowland Prothero
Member of Parliament for Oxford University1919 1935
With: Lord Hugh Cecil
Succeeded by
Lord Hugh Cecil
A. P. Herbert
