Founder and Director, Kirstin Howgate

I started in publishing back in 1997.  Fresh out from my Masters in European Politics at the University of Essex, I was editing a friend’s PhD thesis.  I enjoyed it and thought that it would be great to do that full time.  I applied to commercial publisher, Ashgate, but they had other plans. I became a junior commissioning editor across a variety of publishing lists but quickly, given my background, I established a political science programme.  This became one of Ashgate’s most successful programmes before the company was sold to Taylor and Francis.  Many of these books are still in print at Routledge today.  

 

In 2015, I founded Howgate Publishing, a pioneering publisher of contemporary military books. Why?  I had over two decades of successful publishing experience under my belt.  I had worked in Aldershot (known at one point for being the home of the British Army) for most of my career.  I married an Army Officer and had been observing the military first-hand.  It became apparent to me that while some larger publishers were publishing material largely about the military, no-one was publishing material for the military.  

 

With militaries increasingly stretched and operations changing, to be successful in the future there is an urgent need to get serious about military education.  Our mission is to encourage the sharing of experiences and narratives, rather than philosophical debate, to help expand training, professional competencies and the intellectual edge of those involved in defence.