Michael W. Charney

Biography

I am a military and imperial historian specialising in South East Asia in both the premodern and modern periods. I received my PhD at the University of Michigan in 1999. After two years as a postdoctoral research fellow with the Centre for Advanced Studies at the National University of Singapore (1999-2001), I joined SOAS. I have most recently returned from two years (2012-2014) as a project professor with the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo.

Research Interest

I am a military and imperial historian specialising in South East Asia in both the premodern and modern periods. Since joining SOAS, I have published monographs on warfare in the premodern South East Asian region (Southeast Asian Warfare, 1300-1900, 2004), the rise of monastic, military, and ministerial elites and their impact on the religious and intellectual life of the precolonial Burmese kingdom (Powerful Learning: Buddhist Literati and the Throne in Burma's Last Dynasty, 1752-1885, 2006), and a history of the twentieth century in Burma before and during the lengthy period of military rule (A History of Modern Burma, 2009). I have also co-edited four volumes and am currently co-editing a fifth, focused on early modern South East Asian warfare. My most recent work focuses on the role of railways in war, premodern warfare across the Indian Ocean world, and South East Asia during the Cold War.