Anthony King

Anthony King is a sociologist who remains heavily influenced by social anthropology. Although his work may be diverse, it is unified by a common interest in contemporary social transformation. His research traces the way specific social groups (be they Manchester United fans, infantry platoons, or divisional headquarters) have adapted through close ethnographic observation and historical comparison. His work on the armed forces explores the social, cultural, and military impact of professionalisation.

He has published widely including eight sole-authored monographs and over eighty research articles. Originally, he worked on the sociology of sport and social theory. Since 2004, he has focused on war and the armed forces. He has published extensively in this field on a number of topics including command, cohesion, urban warfare, AI, gender, commemoration, technology, and counter-insurgency. In 2019, he completed a trilogy on military transformation: The Transformation of Europe’s Armed Forces: from the Rhine to Afghanistan (Cambridge, 2011), The Combat Soldier: infantry tactics and cohesion in the twentieth and twenty-first century (Oxford, 2013), Command: the twenty-first century general (Cambridge, 2019).

His most recent books are Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century (Polity, revised second edition 2025) and AI, Automation, and War: the rise of a military-tech complex (Princeton 2025). He has held five ESRC research grants. His most recent grant was a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2021-24), 'Urban Warfare: past, present and future'. He is currently preparing an Advanced Research application for the European Research Council on AI and military decision-making.