Military History Matters has curated a list of 2025’s best military history titles: the nominees for this year’s MHM Book Awards. Our selection includes some of the best-researched, most-insightful, and most-readable titles reviewed and featured in the magazine over the last year.
But we need your help to select the winners!
Gold, silver, and bronze prizes are up for grabs in the race for MHM Book of the Year, which will be awarded to the title our readers feel has made the greatest all-round contribution to the study of military history.
The MHM Book Awards is sponsored by The Cultural Experience, a leading international tour company that offers expert-led holidays to historical and culturally significant destinations throughout the world. For more information about the company, please visit their website.
The Price of Victory: a naval history of Britain 1815-1945
N A M Rodger
Allen Lane
In the final instalment of his definitive trilogy on Britain’s naval history, N A M Rodger charts the transformation of British sea-power from Trafalgar to the end of the Second World War. Based on a lifetime’s learning, The Price of Victory is the culmination of one of the most significant historical works in recent decades.
Click here to read the full review
Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the surrender of Japan
Richard Overy
Allen Lane
At the end of WWII, hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians died in a final outburst of violence from the air. Richard Overy’s remarkable book rethinks this last stage of the war, showing the complexities behind the decision to drop the bombs, and exploring how the concept of ‘surrender’ was entirely foreign to Japanese culture.
Click here to read the full review
From Trenton to Yorktown: turning points of the Revolutionary War
John R Maass
Osprey Publishing
For eight gruelling years, American and British military forces struggled in a bloody war over colonial independence. In this sweeping narrative of America’s fight for liberty, John R Maass presents an astute exploration of the five critical events that changed the outcome of the Revolutionary War.
Click here to read the full review
Saint Petersburg: sacrifice and redemption in the city that defied Hitler
Sinclair McKay
Viking
The siege of St Petersburg – then known as Leningrad – stands as a testament to human endurance. Sinclair McKay chronicles the horrors of the siege through immersive prose and gripping first-hand accounts. He also traces the pivotal importance of St Petersburg across the centuries, exploring the layers of history that have shaped the city.
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Ring of Fire: a new global history of the outbreak of the First World War
Alex Churchill and Nicolai Eberholst
Apollo
Across the capitals of Europe, no one really understood the calamity that was about to erupt in the summer of 1914. In this new global history, Alex Churchill and Nicolai Eberholst offer a ‘people’s view’ of WWI’s outbreak, with an eye-witness-based account of the events of 1914 around the world.
Click here to read the full review
Chain of Fire: campaigning in Egypt and the Sudan, 1882-1898
Peter Hart
Profile Books
It was the height of European colonialism. Injustices were administered, bloody battles fought, and civilians caught in the crossfire. In Chain of Fire, Peter Hart presents the gripping story of the siege of Khartoum and Britain’s 1882 campaign in Egypt and Sudan, using the testimonies of the men who fought there.
Click here to read the full review
Korea: war without end
Richard Dannatt and Robert Lyman
Osprey Publishing
Korea: war without end examines the standoff between East and West in Korea that ultimately defined the second half of the 20th century. Through meticulous analysis of source material, this book details the chaos of political decision-making at the war’s outset and as it progressed, and the effect of the fighting on civilians.
Click here to read the full review
Mitchell: father of the Spitfire
Paul Beaver
Elliott & Thompson
Reginald Mitchell is one of the greatest names in aviation history. A visionary engineer with a passion for speed, his legacy is the most iconic fighter aircraft of all time: the Spitfire. In this exhilarating biography, Paul Beaver takes us behind the scenes, exploring the creative genius of a man devoted to pushing the boundaries of technology.
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Allies at War: the politics of defeating Hitler
Tim Bouverie
Bodley Head
After the Fall of France in June 1940, Churchill, then desperate for allies, did everything he could to bring the United States into the conflict and drive a wedge between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Tim Bouverie offers a fresh perspective on the political drama behind the military events of the Second World War.
Click here to read the full review
Lest We Forget: war and peace in 100 British monuments
Tessa Dunlop
Harper Collins
Why did Scotland take 600 years to commemorate its most famous freedom fighter? When did Wellington become an antiestablishment figure? And can the Cenotaph ever stay above politics? Tessa Dunlop has travelled the length and breadth of Britain to explore what monuments and memorials say about the country and its history.
Click here to read the full review
Battle of the Arctic: the maritime epic of World War Two
Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
William Collins
Battling raging storms and perilous icebergs, Allied convoys from the UK, America, and Iceland fought to deliver supplies to the Soviet Union from 1941 onwards. Hugh Sebag-Montefiore charts the history of this extraordinary episode, following the officers, guards, and ordinary sailors on board the convoys.
Click here to read the full review
Mavericks: empire, oil, revolution and the forgotten battle of World War I
Nick Higham
Bloomsbury
As the First World War drew to a close and regimes began to collapse across Europe, British officials plotted a daring campaign to send an unlikely band of maverick soldiers, diplomats, and spies to the chaotic region around the Caspian Sea. Mavericks tells the forgotten story of this remarkable group of characters.
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Cast your vote here!
Voting will close on 10 August 2026, with the winners announced shortly afterwards.
