Robert Cowley


Robert Cowley is an American military historian, who writes on topics in American and European military history ranging from the Civil War through World War II. He has held several senior positions in book and magazine publishing and is the founding editor of the award-winning ; Cowley has also written extensively and edited three collections of essays in counterfactual history known as What If?
As part of his research he has traveled the entire length of the Western Front, from the North Sea to the Swiss Border.
He currently lives in New York City, Connecticut and Newport, Rhode Island.

Early life and education

Cowley is the son of prominent writer and literary critic Malcolm Cowley and Muriel Mauer. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, graduating in 1952. Thereafter, he earned an A.B. degree in history in 1956 from Harvard College in Massachusetts.

Personal life

He was married to Blair Cowley; they later divorced and she remarried to artist Paul Resika. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Miranda. Miranda Cowley, is married to film producer and director Bruno Heller, son of screenwriter Lukas Heller and grandson of political philosopher Hermann Heller. Cowley later married Susan Cheever, daughter of novelist John Cheever. He is currently married to Edith Lorillard, daughter of Elaine Lorillard, who founded the Newport Jazz Festival. They have two daughters, Olivia Wassenaar and Savannah Cowley.

Works