Faculty and Staff
John A. Lynn
Professor of History
John Lynn’s interests center on the history of Western and non-Western military institutions and warfare. Over the years, his research has emphasized eras of military change, particularly in early modern Europe and South Asia. His most recent works explore new themes in the history of war, society, and culture. Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2008) examines the lives and contributions of the multitude of women who accompanied armies into the field, 1500-1815. Battle: A History of Combat and Culture (Westview Press, 2003 and revised English edition 2004, also translated into French and Korean), discusses the role of cultural preconceptions and practices in affecting warfare. He has also written The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667-1714 (Longman, 1999), Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army, 1610-1715 (Cambridge University Press, 1997), and The Bayonets of the Republic: Motivation and Tactics in the Army of Revolutionary France, 1791-94 (Westview Press, 1996). His edited volumes include Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present (Westview Press, 1993) and The Tools of War: Ideas, Instruments, and Institutions of Warfare, 1445-1871 (University of Illinois Press, 1990). He is currently completing a book on the daily lives of early modern European soldiers. Professor Lynn served as president of the United States Commission on Military History (2003-2007) and vice-president of the Society for Military History (2005-2007). In 2001, Professor Lynn won the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Illinois; this was followed in 2005 with his department’s Queen Prize for graduate teaching and in 2008 with the Delta Sigma Omicron Distinguished Teaching Award for teaching students with disabilities.
Courses Taught | Vita | Guide to Early Modern European Military History in Midwestern Research Libraries