Peter Edwards | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 August 1945 Watford, England |
| Awards | Rhodes Scholarship (1967) Harkness Fellowship (1975) Foundation of Australian Literary Studies Award and H.T. Priestley Medal (1997) Member of the Order of Australia (2001) Queensland Premier's History Book Award (2006) Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction (2006) Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (2009) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Western Australia (BA [Hons]) University of Oxford (DPhil) |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Australian War Memorial University of Adelaide Australian National University |
| Main interests | Diplomatic history Military and defence history Vietnam War |
| Notable works | The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975 |
Peter Geoffrey Edwards, AM (born 29 August 1945) is an Australian diplomatic and military historian. Educated at the University of Western Australia and the University of Oxford, Edwards worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Australian National University and the University of Adelaide before being appointed Official Historian and general editor of The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975 in 1982. The nine-volume history was commissioned to cover Australia's involvement in the Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and Vietnam War. Edwards spent fourteen years at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) writing two of the volumes, while also researching, editing, and dealing with budget limitations and problems with staff turnover. Since leaving the AWM in 1996, Edwards has worked as a senior academic, scholar and historical consultant. In 2006 his book Arthur Tange: Last of the Mandarins won the Queensland Premier's History Book Award and the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction.