![]() ![]() The theme of this conference – ‘Crossing Borders, Crossing Boundaries’ – turns out to have been more than a literal reference: many of the papers and panels broke the imaginary boundaries which have stratified some aspects of historical study for the last few decades. This is a simplification of reality, but I would be surprised if many of my colleagues did not recognise its characteristics. This has led in recent decades to the ossification of historical genres, creating boundaries between sub-disciplines which could never be crossed. Most historians feel that their particular genre is not taken sufficiently seriously. Military historians have long felt, justly or unjustly, rightly or wrongly, pigeonholed as the persecuted minority in the community of historians. This year’s annual meeting was different in one key way: there was an overriding theme to most of the panels which I attended, and conversations which I had, which actually generated a collective spark of excitement. It is a valuable occasion, when intellectual juices flow, and new avenues of research unearthed. The annual meeting of the Society of Military History is usually unexceptional in this regard: an enjoyable conference where like minds meet, discuss new ideas, and drink gin. They are an opportunity for old and new colleagues from across the globe to connect and reconnect, and share their latest research. ![]() The annual meeting of any large professional body or learned society usually produces a wide-range of panels and papers, to which it is impossible to attend all, and between which there is usually a limited relationship. ![]()
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