About
I am an independent researcher (or unemployed, depending on your point of view) from Lincolnshire, England. I did a BA in History at Reading and an MA in Military History at Leeds before going back to Reading to do a PhD. My thesis (’Horse Supply in the English Civil War’) looked at how civil war armies were supplied with horses, saddles, harness, and fodder; how supply systems developed over the course of the First Civil War; and what impact the demands of the armies had on England’s economy and society. After gaining my doctorate in 2001, I went on a career break from academic history which included working for Customs and Excise (just like Tom Paine and Geoffrey Chaucer) among other things. Now I’m coming back with new perspectives, trying to broaden my horizons and reassess my methodology.
The best way to find out what this blog is all about is to read it. You’re likely to find works in progress, ranging from my “proper” work on horses in the English Civil War to no-budget digitization projects and amateur research on what my ancestors did in the First World War; book reviews and reflections on what I’m reading; examples of Python code and other technical stuff; links to Web 2.0 resources and suggestions about how historians can use them; and random thoughts on history, historiography, theory, culture, gender, digital history, computer games, and animals (but no pictures of cats).
I also organize the Military History Carnival, a monthly roundup of blog posts relating to the history of conflict and armed forces. I like to define military history very broadly, including relationships between war and class, race, gender, sexuality, disability, the non-human etc as well as strategy, operations, tactics, weapons, uniforms etc. We always need more hosts and more submissions, so please think about getting involved.
My first article, ‘Horse Supply and the Development of the New Model Army, 1642-1646′, was published in War In History in April 2008.
