Annual Booklist 2019 : Mark Shearwood
Mark Shearwood is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Leeds on 'The Catholic Other in the Army of James II and William III, c 1685-1690', which has been supporetd by an SAHR University Research Grant. His first book, 'The Perfection of Militray Discipline: The Plug Bayonet and the English Army 1669-1705' is due to be published in February 2020.
I make no apology that the majority of my book list covers the British, or more correctly the English army during the late seventeenth century, which unsurprisingly mirrors my own area of research. While there is a limited historiography compacted to other periods of military history, it should not be overlooked. I am happy to say that in recent years there has been substantial progress in rectifying this dearth of material.
It would be possible to completely fill my Christmas list with books by Professor John Childs, but in the interest of trying to write a balanced list, I will for know limit my choice to one, The Nine Years’ War and the British Army 1688-97: The Operations in the Low Countries (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1991). Within this volume, the author presents the reader with both a detailed explanation of both the origins of the war and how the war was conducted, the majority of the book contains a year-by-year campaign history of a conflict overshadowed by the later war of Spanish Succession.
My second choice comes from Jonathon Riley, The Last Ironsides: The English Expedition to Portugal 1662-1668 (Solihull: Helion & Co, 2014). While my first choice could be described as the origin of the ‘new’ British army, this book covers the last breaths of the Cromwellian armies. The campaign in Portugal in 1662-68 is expertly described by the author, who’s military understanding of logistics and campaigning armies shines through with excellent and compelling narratives that engage the reader. There are several factual mistakes that should have been picked up by the author or editor, these aside, this is a book well worth having on your Christmas list.
My next selection, is in reality my third and fourth choice as it comprises two volumes on the same subject, split by geographical locations. Wienand Drenth & Jonathon Riley’s The Colonial Soldier: A survey of British Overseas Territories and their Garrisons, 1650-1714. Volume 1: the British Isles, Europe, Asia and Africa. (Eindhoven, Drenth Publishing, 2014) and Volume 2: The Americas and the Caribbean, Part 1, New England and the Middle Colonies and Part 2, The Southern Colonies and the West Indies (Eindhoven: Drenth Publishing, 2015). While at first glance these books are modern versions of Dalton’s English and Scottish Army Lists, they are fare more than the sum of their parts. The authors weave an intricate balance between histories of regiments and garrisons and a detailed account of the global reach of England in the long seventeenth-century. Richly illustrated and extremely well researched, these volumes are a must for anyone interested in understanding the global footprint and impact of English foreign policy and alliances.
My last choice comes from Michael Snape, The Redcoat and Religion: The Forgotten History of the British Soldier from the Age of Marlborough to the Eve of the First World War (Abingdon: Routledge, 2005). This book provides a strong counter-argument to the general assumption that religion was not a significant factor within the British army until the mid-nineteenth-century. Michael Snape brings the story of the individual soldier front and centre and re-establishes the soldier as part of a far more complex society than previous stereotypes have shown. This book is a must for anyone interested in understanding the identity of the British Soldier.
As for the book that I would wish to be published, there is a gap in the current historiography for a book on the Catholic troops of the English army in the last half of the seventeenth century.