Eric Grove is a British
naval historianNaval history is the area of military history concerning war at sea and the subject is also a sub-discipline of the broad field of maritime history....
and defence analyst who teaches at the
University of SalfordThe University of Salford is a plate glass university based in Salford, Greater Manchester, England with approximately 20,000 registered students...
in
Greater ManchesterGreater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.56 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
Grove was born in
BoltonBolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Situated close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
,
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
in 1948. His father, a medical doctor, got a post in Aberdeen, Scotland and the family moved there in 1960. After attending
Aberdeen Grammar SchoolAberdeen Grammar School, known to students as The Grammar or AGS, is a state secondary school in the City of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of twelve secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department...
, he took an honours degree in history at the
University of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen is an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is the fifth oldest university in what is now the United Kingdom, and in the wider English-speaking world....
in 1970. He also sang counter tenor in the choir of Aberdeen's Anglican cathedral choir.
Eric Grove is a British
naval historianNaval history is the area of military history concerning war at sea and the subject is also a sub-discipline of the broad field of maritime history....
and defence analyst who teaches at the
University of SalfordThe University of Salford is a plate glass university based in Salford, Greater Manchester, England with approximately 20,000 registered students...
in
Greater ManchesterGreater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.56 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
Biography
Grove was born in
BoltonBolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Situated close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
,
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
in 1948. His father, a medical doctor, got a post in Aberdeen, Scotland and the family moved there in 1960. After attending
Aberdeen Grammar SchoolAberdeen Grammar School, known to students as The Grammar or AGS, is a state secondary school in the City of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of twelve secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department...
, he took an honours degree in history at the
University of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen is an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is the fifth oldest university in what is now the United Kingdom, and in the wider English-speaking world....
in 1970. He also sang counter tenor in the choir of Aberdeen's Anglican cathedral choir. A member of Aberdeen Transport Society, he co-authored his first book, on Scottish buses, while still at school in 1965. Grove took an
MAA Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
in War Studies at
King's College LondonKing's College London is a British higher education institution and co-founding constituent college of the University of London. Founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, its royal charter is predated, in England, only by those of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge...
in 1971 and was appointed that year a civilian lecturer at the
Britannia Royal Naval CollegeBritannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, with...
DartmouthDartmouth is a town in Devon in South West England. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty .-History:Dartmouth was of...
. During the 1970s he wrote a number of books on tanks and armoured warfare. In 1980-81 he was the first Dartmouth academic to exchange for a year with the
United States Naval AcademyThe United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, that educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Academy often is referred to simply as "Annapolis". It is also called "The Academy", "The Boat School", or "Canoe...
, Annapolis.
Leaving Dartmouth as Deputy Head of Strategic Studies and International Affairs at the end of 1984 Grove worked briefly for the Council for Arms Control before becoming a freelance academic and defence consultant. His principal work was with the Foundation for International Security's Common Security Programme followed by its project on Maritime Power and European Security which involved the creation of a back channel, later official, dialogue between the Soviet, US and Royal Navies. These continue (with the addition of France) as the FRUKUS talks. He also taught at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and the
University of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge , located in the City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world and the fourth oldest in Europe...
.
In 1993 Grove accepted a position with the Department of Politics at the
University of HullThe University of Hull, also known as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull , a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The main campus is located on Cottingham Road in the north west of the city while a smaller campus is located in nearby Scarborough...
and its Centre for Security Studies. He obtained a
PhDPHD may refer to:* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian reform organization* PHD, a track on The Crystal Method album Tweekend* PHD finger, a protein sequence* PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company...
on the basis of his published works in 1996. He eventually left in 2005 as Reader in Politics and International Studies and Director of the Centre, having founded a new undergraduate course in War and Security Studies. During this time he also acted as consultant and co author for the first edition if the Royal Navy's The Fundamentals of British Maritime Doctrine (BR1806). He was also involved in the first iteration of British Defence Doctrine. In 1997 Dr Grove was a visiting fellow at the Centre for Maritime Policy at the
University of WollongongThe University of Wollongong is a public university with approximately 22,000 students, located in the coastal city of Wollongong, which is 80 kilometres south of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia.-History:...
,
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
.
In 2005 Grove moved to the
University of SalfordThe University of Salford is a plate glass university based in Salford, Greater Manchester, England with approximately 20,000 registered students...
where he is Professor of Naval History and Director of the Centre for International Security and War Studies. He is a prolific author, his major works being
Vanguard to Trident, British Naval Policy Since 1945 (1987),
The Future of Sea Power (1990),
The Price of Disobedience (2000) and
The Royal Navy Since 1815 (2005). He also edited a new edition of Sir Julian Corbett's Some Principles of Maritime Strategy in 1988. Grove appears frequently on radio and television having made major contributions to BBC2's Timewatch series, the award winning Deep Wreck Mysteries, Channel 4's Hunt for The Hood and the Bismarck and the series The Battleships and The Airships. He is a participant in conferences and lectures world wide on naval history and maritime security matters.
Grove is a Fellow of the
Royal Historical SocietyThe Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London.-Purpose and activities:...
, a Vice President of the
Society for Nautical ResearchThe Society for Nautical Research was founded in 1910 to promote the academic field of maritime history in the United Kingdom.The aims of the society are to:* support and encourage research in maritime history and underwater archaeology....
and a Member of Council of the
Navy Records SocietyThe Navy Records Society was established in 1893 as a scholarly society to publish historical documents that illustrated the history of the Royal Navy. Professor Sir John Knox Laughton and Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge were the key leaders who organized the Society, basing it on the model of earlier...
(for which he edited the Naval Staff History,
The Defeat of the Enemy Attack Upon Shipping, published in 1997). He was married in 1973 to Elizabeth (née Stocks). The couple separated in 1998 and the marriage was dissolved in 2005 in which year he married the opera singer
Sarian GrevelleSarian Grevelle is a British mezzo-soprano with a wide repertoire, specialising in Verdi roles.-Early life and education:...
.