Since University Press Week begins on Veterans Day this year, the Association of University Presses (AUPresses) is calling special attention to its five members that are associated with US Armed Forces universities: Air University Press, Army University Press, Marine Corps University Press, Naval Institute Press, and West Point Press.
These presses publish books and journals that appeal to scholars, strategists, students, and the general public. Many of their publications are open access, that is, offered to readers for free. Their subject matter includes military history, memoirs, national security, recent operations, international relations, geopolitics, leadership, doctrine, organization, tactics, and logistics. Their authors are not required to be associated with the presses’ home institutions. In fact, the authors published by these presses are scholars, active-duty members of military, and veterans, who together offer a wide variety of civilian and military viewpoints.
“Military presses are essential to the intellectual growth and development of their parent organizations,” said Paul Hoffman, director of Air University Press. “Debates over policy, organization, and employment play out in the pages of our books and journals. Service journals are where authors challenge orthodoxy and discuss the future, rather than trumpeting success in the past.”
“We use the same publishing processes as any other university press for acquisition, peer review, development, editorial board review, copyediting, design, and production,” says Angela Anderson, director of Marine Corps University Press.
“Our global community of mission-based scholarly publishers is greatly enriched by the presence and participation of US Armed Forces university presses,” said AUPresses executive director Peter Berkery. “Their professionalism, spirit of service, and commitment to scholarly excellence are to be commended.”
During University Press Week 2024 (November 11-15) these presses join with other university presses around the world to explore the myriad ways that their publications and projects “step UP” to give context to current issues and events, offer solutions to global challenges, and present diverse voices in a broad range of disciplines. Here’s a sampling of such works published by the university presses associated with US Armed Forces universities:
- The Boundaries of War: Local and Global Perspectives in Military History, edited by Lee L. Brice and Timothy M. Roberts (Marine Corps University Press) provides new insights into military history.
- The West Point Companion to the Updated ICRC Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention by Sean Watts (West Point Press) contributes to the understanding of international and military-related law.
- Bipolar General: My Forever War with Mental Illness, by Gregg F. Martin (USA, ret.) and Reflections on Captivity: A Tapestry of Stories by a Vietnam War POW by Porter A. Halyburton (both from Naval Institute Press), and Henry O. Flipper: West Point’s First Black Graduate, An Annotated Autobiography (West Point Press) offer service members’ personal reflections.
- Women, Peace, and Security in Professional Military Education, vol. 2, edited by Lauren Mackenzie, PhD, and Colonel Dana Perkins, PhD (Marine Corps University Press) highlights the next generation of strategic leaders.
“We hope that readers are inspired by the information and insights offered by these and all university presses to step up to make a positive difference in their communities and the world,” said Berkery.
An annual event, now in its 13th year, University Press Week celebrates and raises awareness of the work that university presses do every day. Throughout the week of Nov. 11 to 15, the Association and participating presses will present an online gallery, contribute to a blog tour, and host in-person and virtual author events, in addition to promoting a reading list.
This year’s reading list also highlights several other books about military history and veterans’ experiences, including A Debt of Gratitude: How Jimmy Carter Put Vietnam Veterans’ Issues on the National Agenda (University Press of Kansas) by Glenn Robins and Why the European Union Failed in Afghanistan (Bristol University Press/Policy Press) by Oz Hassan.
Explore the reading list and find out more about UP Week 2024.
Learn more about AUPresses’ US Armed Forces member presses (PDF).
About the Association of University Presses
AUPresses is an organization of 161 international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, the Association of University Presses advances the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association holds intellectual freedom, integrity, stewardship, and equity and inclusion as core values. AUPresses members are active across many scholarly disciplines, including the humanities, arts, and sciences, publish significant regional and literary work, and are innovators in the world of digital publishing.