Biography
Wayne H. Bowen is a professor of history and associate vice provost for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Central Florida. He develops and implements policies and practices for undergraduate students, oversees the university’s General Education Program, reviews undergraduate appeals, and supervises teams responsible for high-impact practices and academic services.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree and doctorate in European history from Northwestern University, and a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. He specializes in the history of Spain and the Mediterranean. Bowen is the author of 11 books, including seven on Spanish history from the early modern era to the Cold War. He has published more than two dozen articles in academic journals on topics including the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and great power relations since 1800. His articles have been published in 10 countries and translated into Spanish, Polish, French and Turkish. His latest work examines relations between the Spanish and Ottoman empires from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Bowen is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and served in Iraq and with NATO in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Education
- M.A. in Strategic Studies from U.S. Army War College (2018)
- Ph.D. in History from Northwestern University (1996)
- M.A. in History from Northwestern University (1992)
- B.A. in History from University of Southern California (1990)
Research Interests
Modern and early modern Spanish history; Mediterranean; European and Middle East political, religious, and military history
Recent Research Activities
Spanish Inquisition, Spanish collaboration with Nazi Germany, Spanish and Ottoman Empires
Publications
Books
- Forthcoming Working for Nazi Germany: Salvador Merino and Spanish Labor in the Third Reich (Routledge, 2025).
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The History of Saudi Arabia, 3rd edition (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024).
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Spain and the Protestant Reformation: The Spanish Inquisition and the War for Europe (Routledge, 2022).
- Truman, Franco’s Spain, and the Cold War (University of Missouri Press, 2017).
- The History of Saudi Arabia, 2nd edition (Greenwood Press/ABC-Clio, 2014).
- Spain and the American Civil War (University of Missouri Press, 2011).
- The History of Saudi Arabia (Greenwood Press/ABC-Clio, 2008).
- Undoing Saddam: From Occupation to Sovereignty in Northern Iraq (Potomac Books/University of Nebraska, 2007).
- A Military History of Modern Spain. Co-edited with Jose Alvarez (Praeger/ ABC-Clio, 2007).
- Spain during World War II (University of Missouri Press, 2006).
- Spaniards and Nazi Germany: Collaboration in the New Order (University of Missouri Press, 2000). 2001 Phi Alpha Theta Book Award.