Allan English

Allan English has been researching and teaching topics in military history for over thirty years, with a focus on military culture and leadership, human behaviour in war, and veteran and family health. Much of his work has explored these topics within a Canadian context and some of his publications are listed below. His latest book, From Failure to Failure: The Canadian Military's Attempts to Manage Its Sexual Misconduct Crises, 2000-2022, consolidates and applies key insights from his past research to analyze the various attempts made by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) from 2000 to 2022 to "manage" its sexual misconduct crises that, according to General Wayne Eyre, Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff from 2021 to 2024, threatened to make the military "irrelevant" in Canadian society if they were not dealt with properly. Drawing on his past work, the book concludes with the critical insights needed to enact practical change in the CAF to deal with these crises.

His understanding of the Canadian military culture, necessary to recognize the true meaning of the words and actions of CAF personnel as well as the basic assumptions that are the foundation of this culture, come not only from his scholarly work, but also from his 25 years service in the Royal Canadian Air Force and CAF in various operational and instructional positions as an air navigator.

He completed his MA in War Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada in 1987 and afterwards taught in the Military Psychology and Leadership Department there until he retired from the CAF in 1991. He completed his PhD in history at Queen's University in 1993 after which he started teaching at Queen’s. In November 2015 he was given the Queen’s University Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision in the Social Sciences and Humanities. He continues to research and write in the field of Canadian military history.