Ronald H. Spector

He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served in the Vietnam War, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves. He was a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military history and taught at the University of Alabama. He was tasked to prepare a study of the Grenada operation.

He graduated from Johns Hopkins University, and later gained a Ph.D from Yale University.{{cite web|title=

Ronald H. Spector {{!}} Britannica |work= Encyclopædia Britannica |language= en |url= https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Ronald-H-Spector/5910 |access-date= November 13, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241113080451/https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Ronald-H-Spector/5910 |archive-date= November 13, 2024 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title= Dissertations by year, 1960-1969 {{!}} Department of History |work= Department of History - Yale University |language= en |url= https://history.yale.edu/academics/graduate-program/dissertations-year/dissertations-year-1960-1969 |access-date= November 13, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241113080434/https://history.yale.edu/academics/graduate-program/dissertations-year/dissertations-year-1960-1969 |archive-date= November 13, 2024 |url-status=dead}}

Spector was a Senior Fulbright scholar in India from 1977 to 1978. He has taught at the National War College, the University of Alabama, and the U.S. Army War College. He currently is serving on the faculty of George Washington University in Washington, D.C.{{cite web|title= Spector, Ronald H. {{!}} Department of History {{!}} Columbian College of Arts & Sciences {{!}} The George Washington University |work= Department of History - Columbian College of Arts and Sciences |language= en |url= https://history.columbian.gwu.edu/ronald-spector |access-date= November 11, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241111233433/https://history.columbian.gwu.edu/ronald-spector |archive-date= November 11, 2024 |url-status=dead}} He is also a contributing writer for the Encyclopædia Britannica.{{cite web|title= Ronald H. Spector {{!}} Britannica |work= Encyclopædia Britannica |language= en |url= https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Ronald-H-Spector/5910 |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250426183338/https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Ronald-H-Spector/5910 |archive-date= April 26, 2025 |url-status=dead}}

Spector joined the State Department's Historical Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation in the late 1980s as a representative of the American Historical Association. At the 1989 meeting, Spector and other members discussed expediting the publication of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series and improving the process of classifying and declassifying documents. He advocated reprinting and distributing the 20 backlogged volumes of FRUS to depository libraries, and suggested lobbying Congress for funding for this purpose. Spector also expressed his views on the need to maintain a complete historical record.{{cite web|title= Minutes of the 1989 Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation |date= November 16, 1989 |work= Office of the Historian |language= en |url= https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus-history/documents/1989-11-16-hac-meeting-minutes |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250211063628/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus-history/documents/1989-11-16-hac-meeting-minutes |archive-date= February 11, 2025 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title= 1990 Report of the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation |date= October 1, 1990 |work= American Historical Association |language= en |url= https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/1990-report-of-the-advisory-committee-on-historical-diplomatic-documentation/ |access-date= April 27, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250427044850/https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/1990-report-of-the-advisory-committee-on-historical-diplomatic-documentation/ |archive-date= April 27, 2025 |url-status=dead}}

In 2012, Spector was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize, for his breadth of contributions to the field of military history.{{cite web|title= Society for Military History Announces Its Annual Awards |date= April 1, 2012 |work= American Historical Association |language= en |url= https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/society-for-military-history-announces-its-annual-awards-april-2012/ |access-date= November 11, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241111233743/https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/society-for-military-history-announces-its-annual-awards-april-2012/ |archive-date= November 11, 2024 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title= Samuel Eliot Morison Prize |work= Society for Military History |language= en |url= https://www.smh-hq.org/awards/morison.html |access-date= November 11, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241111233855/https://www.smh-hq.org/awards/morison.html |archive-date= November 11, 2024 |url-status=dead}} His book Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan was the 1986 winner of the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Prize in Naval History.

• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1974 |title= Admiral of the New Empire: The Life and Career of George Dewey |language= en |location= Baton Rouge, Louisiana |publisher= Louisiana State University Press |isbn= 978-0-8071-0078-3 |lccn= 73090870 |oclc= 1158824 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/x3ffAAAAMAAJ}}{{cite journal|first= Paolo E. |last= Coletta |date= 1975 |title= Reviewed Work: Admiral of the New Empire: The Life and Career of George Dewey Ronald Spector |language= en |volume= 62 |issue= 2 |journal= The Journal of American History |publisher= Oxford University Press |pages= 439–440 |doi= 10.2307/1903330 |issn= 1936-0967 |jstor= 1903330}}
• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1977 |title= Professors of War: The Naval War College and the Development of the Naval Profession |language= en |location= Newport, Rhode Island |series= Historical Monographs |publisher= Naval War College Press |isbn= 978-0-9637973-2-2 |lccn= 77007155 |oclc= 2965425 |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250426150759/https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GOVPUB-D208-PURL-gpo145978}}{{cite journal|first= Peter |last= Karsten |date= 1979 |title= Reviewed Work: Professors of War: The Naval War College and the Development of the Naval Profession Ronald Spector |language= en |volume= 84 |issue= 3 |journal= The American Historical Review |publisher= Oxford University Press |pages= 865–866 |doi= 10.1086/ahr/84.3.865-a |issn= 1937-5239 |jstor= 1855614}}
• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1983 |title= Advice and Support: The Early Years, 1941-1960 |language= en |location= Washington, D.C. |publisher= Center of Military History |isbn= 978-0-16-001600-4 |lccn= 83600103 |oclc= 1011926436 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/d2BNAQAAMAAJ}}{{cite journal|first= Robert A. |last= Doughty |date= 1984 |title= Reviewed Work: United States Army in Vietnam: Advice and Support: The Early Years, 1941-1960 Ronald H. Spector. |language= en |volume= 71 |issue= 2 |journal= The Journal of American History |publisher= Oxford University Press |pages= 420–421 |doi= 10.2307/1901816 |issn= 1936-0967 |jstor= 1901816}}
• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1985 |title= Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan |language= en |location= New York |publisher= Free Press |isbn= 978-0-02-930360-3 |lccn= 84047888 |oclc= 10998802 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/0PZmAAAAMAAJ}}{{cite news|title= Books of the Times |first= Drew |last= Middleton |date= November 5, 1984 |newspaper= The New York Times |issn= 0362-4331 |page= 15 |language= en |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/05/books/books-of-the-times-059885.html |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241010023311/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/05/books/books-of-the-times-059885.html |archive-date= October 10, 2024 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1987 |title= U.S. Marines in Grenada, 1983 |language= en |location= Washington, D.C. |publisher= United States Marine Corps History Division, United States Marine Corps |oclc= 16166872 |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241209171319/https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20in%20Grenada%201983%20%20PCN%2019000309700.pdf}}
• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1993 |title= After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam |language= en |location= New York |publisher= Free Press |isbn= 978-0-02-930380-1|lccn= 92023853 |oclc= 26160000 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/h5TtAAAAMAAJ}}{{cite news|title= A Time for Dying |first= Morley |last= Safer |date= April 11, 1993 |newspaper= The New York Times |issn= 0362-4331 |page= 14 |language= en |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/11/books/a-time-for-dying.html |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250426123626/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/11/books/a-time-for-dying.html |archive-date= April 26, 2025 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |first1= John Whiteclay |last1= Chambers |first2= Ronald H. |last2= Spector |first3= Fred |last3= Anderson |first4= Lynn |last4= Eden |first5= Joseph T. |last5= Glatthaar |first6= G. Kurt |last6= Piehler |date= 1999 |title= The Oxford Companion to American Military History |language= en |location= New York |publisher= Oxford University Press |doi= 10.1093/acref/9780195071986.001.0001 |isbn= 978-0-19-534092-1 |lccn= 99021181 |oclc= 213465912 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/vTYq6yy0lCgC}}{{cite journal|first= Brian Holden |last= Reid |date= 2001 |title= Reviewed Work: The Oxford Companion to American Military History by John Whiteclay Chambers II, Fred Anderson, Lynn Eden, Joseph T. Glatthaar, Ronald H. Spector, G. Kurt Piehler |language= en |volume= 88 |issue= 2 |journal= The Journal of American History |publisher= Oxford University Press |pages= 617–618 |doi= 10.2307/2675115 |issn= 1936-0967 |jstor= 2675115}}
• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 2001 |title= At War, at Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century |language= en |location= New York City |publisher= Viking Press |isbn= 978-0-670-86085-2 |lccn= 2001017551 |oclc= 123102596 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/hX3fAAAAMAAJ}}{{cite magazine|title= Review: At War at Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century |first= Eliot A. |last= Cohen |date= November 1, 2001 |magazine= Foreign Affairs |publisher= Council on Foreign Relations |issn= 0015-7120 |jstor= 20050360 |volume= 80 |issue= 6 |language= en |url= https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2001-11-01/war-sea-sailors-and-naval-combat-twentieth-century |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221207230158/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2001-11-01/war-sea-sailors-and-naval-combat-twentieth-century |archive-date= December 7, 2022 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 2008 |title= In the Ruins of Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia |language= en |location= New York City |publisher= Random House |doi= |isbn= 978-0-8129-6732-6 |lccn= 2008275282 |oclc= 233637025 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/9hE2xFxbca0C}}{{cite news|title= Victorious and Clueless |first= Richard J. |last= Samuels |date= September 9, 2007 |newspaper= The New York Times |issn= 0362-4331 |language= en |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/books/review/Samuels-t.html |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250426125118/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/books/review/Samuels-t.html |archive-date= April 26, 2025 |url-status=dead}}{{cite journal|first= Marc |last= Gallicchio |date= 2009 |title= Review: In the Ruins of Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia, by Ronald H. Spector |language= en |volume= 78 |issue= 2 |journal= Pacific Historical Review |publisher= University of California Press |pages= 325–326 |doi= 10.1525/phr.2009.78.2.325 |issn= 1533-8584 |jstor= 10.1525/phr.2009.78.2.325}}
• {{cite book |contributor-first= Ronald |contributor-last= Spector |author= Ronald H. Spector |contribution= The Military Effectiveness of the US Armed Forces, 1919–39 |editor-first1= Allan R. |editor-last1= Millett |editor-link1= Allan R. Millett |editor-first2= Williamson |editor-last2= Murray |editor-link2= Williamson Murray |date= 2010 |title= Military Effectiveness, Volume 2: The Interwar Period |language= en |volume= 2 |location= Cambridge |publisher= Cambridge University Press |doi= 10.1017/CBO9780511762963.005 |isbn= 978-0-521-42589-6 |lccn= 2010549614 |oclc= 1039865088 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/uIspVB7ff7UC}}
• {{cite book |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 2022 |title= A Continent Erupts: Decolonization, Civil War, and Massacre in Postwar Asia, 1945-1955 |language= en |location= New York |publisher= W. W. Norton & Company |isbn= 978-0-393-25465-5 |lccn= 2022027160 |oclc= 1272857193 |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/T_1KEAAAQBAJ}}{{cite news|title= When Japan Surrendered, Wars Broke Out |first= Sheila Miyoshi |last= Jager |date= August 30, 2022 |newspaper= The New York Times |issn= 0362-4331 |language= en |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/books/review/a-continent-erupts-ronald-h-spector.html |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250426123706/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/books/review/a-continent-erupts-ronald-h-spector.html |archive-date= April 26, 2025 |url-status=dead}}

• {{cite magazine|title= ‘What Did You Do In The War, Professor?’ |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= December 1986 |magazine= American Heritage |issn= 0002-8738 |volume= 38 |issue= 1 |language= en |url= https://www.americanheritage.com/what-did-you-do-war-professor |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250426122523/https://www.americanheritage.com/what-did-you-do-war-professor |archive-date= April 26, 2025 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite news|title= Books; U.S. and Arms |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= January 29, 1987 |newspaper= The New York Times |issn= 0362-4331 |language= en |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/29/arts/books-us-and-arms.html |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250221205220/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/29/arts/books-us-and-arms.html |archive-date= February 21, 2025 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite magazine|first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1991 |title= Military History and the Academic World |language= en |issue= 19 |magazine= Army History |location= Washington, D.C. |publisher= United States Army Center of Military History |pages= 1–8 |issn= 1546-5330 |jstor= 26302864 |jstor-access= free |url= https://history.army.mil/Portals/143/Images/Publications/ArmyHistoryMag/pdf/19901999/AH19newOCR.pdf |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250426191008/https://history.army.mil/Portals/143/Images/Publications/ArmyHistoryMag/pdf/19901999/AH19newOCR.pdf |archive-date= April 26, 2025 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite magazine|title= The Right Man at the Right Time |first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= February 2000 |magazine= Proceedings |issn= 0041-798X |volume= 126 |issue= 2 |language= en |via= United States Naval Institute |url= https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2000/february/right-man-right-time |access-date= April 26, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250426122404/https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2000/february/right-man-right-time |archive-date= April 26, 2025 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite magazine|title= What McMaster Gets Wrong About Vietnam |first= Ronald |last= Spector |date= October 3, 2017 |magazine= Politico Magazine |issn= 2381-1595 |language= en |url= https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/03/hr-mcmaster-book-vietnam-war-215673/ |access-date= April 30, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230206223216/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/03/hr-mcmaster-book-vietnam-war-215673/ |archive-date= February 6, 2023 |url-status=dead}}

• {{cite journal|first= Ronald |last= Spector |date= 1972 |title= The American Image of Southeast Asia 1790–1865, A Preliminary Assessment |language= en |volume= 3 |issue= 2 |journal= Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |publisher= Cambridge University Press |pages= 299–305 |doi= 10.1017/S0022463400019342 |issn= 0022-4634 |jstor= 20069991 |oclc= 8272696194 |s2cid= 162973880}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald |last= Spector |date= 1972 |title= "You're Not Going To Send Soldiers Over There Are You!": The American Search For an Alternative To the Western Front 1916-1917 |language= en |volume= 36 |issue= 1 |journal= Military Affairs |publisher= American Military Institute, Kansas State University. Department of History |pages= 1–4 |issn= 0026-3931 |id= {{ProQuest|1296641316}} |jstor= 1983836 |oclc= 7586543641 |s2cid= 165723002}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald |last= Spector |date= 1974 |title= Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty: Military History, Official History and the American Experience in Vietnam |language= en |volume= 38 |issue= 1 |journal= Military Affairs |publisher= American Military Institute, Kansas State University. Department of History |pages= 11–12 |issn= 0026-3931 |id= {{ProQuest|1296641850}} |jstor= 1987324 |oclc= 7547274330 |s2cid= 165574273}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald |last= Spector |date= 1981 |title= The Royal Indian Navy Strike of 1946: A Study of Cohesion and Disintegration in Colonial Armed Forces |language= en |volume= 7 |issue= 2 |journal= Armed Forces & Society |publisher= Sage Publishing |pages= 271–284 |doi= 10.1177/0095327X8100700208 |issn= 1556-0848 |oclc= 9069051917}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald |last= Spector |date= 1982 |title= Allied Intelligence and Indochina, 1943-1945 |language= en |volume= 51 |issue= 1 |journal= Pacific Historical Review |publisher= University of California Press |pages= 23–50 |doi= 10.2307/3639819 |issn= 1533-8584 |jstor= 3639819 |oclc= 7021539481 |s2cid= 163529975}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1988 |title= "In the Nam" and "Back in the World": American and Vietnamese Sources on the Vietnam War |language= en |volume= 75 |issue= 1 |journal= The Journal of American History |publisher= Oxford University Press |pages= 209–214 |doi= 10.2307/1889668 |issn= 1936-0967 |jstor= 1889668 |s2cid= 159845689}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 1990 |title= An Improbable Success Story: Official Military Histories in the Twentieth Century |language= en |volume= 12 |issue= 1 |journal= The Public Historian |publisher= University of California Press |pages= 25–30 |doi= 10.2307/3378320 |issn= 0272-3433 |jstor= 3378320 |s2cid= 153610638}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald |last= Spector |date= 1992 |title= Public History and Research in Military History: What Difference Has It Made? |language= en |volume= 26 |issue= 1 |journal= The History Teacher |publisher= Society for History Education |pages= 91–93 |issn= 0018-2745 |jstor= 494088 |oclc= 425442362 |s2cid= 142065303}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 2005 |title= After Hiroshima: Allied Military Occupations and the Fate of Japan's Empire, 1945-1947 |language= en |volume= 69 |issue= 4 |journal= The Journal of Military History |publisher= Society for Military History |pages= 1121–1136 |doi= |issn= 1543-7795 |jstor= 3397181 |id= {{Project MUSE|187682}} |s2cid= 155020690}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 2007 |title= Teetering on the Brink of Respectability |language= en |volume= 93 |issue= 4 |journal= The Journal of American History |publisher= Oxford University Press |pages= 1158–1160 |doi= 10.2307/25094603 |issn= 1936-0967 |jstor= 25094603 |s2cid= 155675050}}
• {{cite journal|first= Ronald H. |last= Spector |date= 2013 |title= Phat Diem: Nationalism, Religion, and Identity in the Franco-Viet Minh War |language= en |volume= 15 |issue= 3 |journal= Journal of Cold War Studies |publisher= MIT Press |pages= 34–46 |doi= 10.1162/JCWS_a_00369 |id= {{Project MUSE|522708}} |issn= 1531-3298 |jstor= 26924383 |s2cid= 57566763}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20241113082103/https://www.ronaldspector.com/}}
• {{C-SPAN|17238}}
• {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20241112000315/https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/spector-ronald-1943|Ronald H. Spector}} at Encyclopedia.com

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spector, Ronald H.}}

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American historians

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:United States Marine Corps officers

Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War

Category:University of Alabama faculty

Category:George Washington University faculty

Category:Yale University alumni

Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni

Category:United States Marine Corps reservists

Category:1943 births

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:Military personnel from Pittsburgh