Gervase Phillips
Principal Lecturer
My profile
Biography
My research revolves around human conflict. This covers struggles between and within nations, religions, ideological groups and also more one-sided instances of persecution and enslavement.
I am interested in the causes, conduct and, hopefully, the ultimate resolution of such conflicts. I also pursue related themes, such as technology and warfare and the military use and treatment of animals. I am inquisitive, bookish and freethinking. Away from work, I generally like to be on a horse or rolling dice.
Words of wisdom
History is the story of humankind. What more important story is there than that?
Other academic service (administration and management)
Head of History Section
Faculty Timetable ‘Champion.’
Teaching
Why do I teach?
I am committed to the study of history by my belief in the integral worth of the discipline. History has been a major contributor to human knowledge over the last 2500 years. History develops students into rigorous thinkers and fluent communicators. As a subject it produces open-minded, reflective and empathetic individuals, tolerant of difference, adaptable and humane in their values.
How I’ll teach you
As a teacher I aim to be: enthusiastic; supportive and a little provocative…
I strive to keep students interested and well-motivated, through engaging and thought-provoking lectures and seminars. By using role-play or dissecting an original document, I hope to encourage analytical thinking, challenging ideas and an appetite for research. I constantly remind students about the importance of reading. So pick up a book!
Research outputs
European and American military history 1450-1920; Colonial and nineteenth-century American social and political history, especially race, slavery and the civil war; animals in history; computer applications for historians; genocide & persecution from the ancient to the modern world.
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Books (authored/edited/special issues)
Phillips, G. (1999) The Anglo-Scots Wars 1513-1550. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer Incorporated.
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Chapters in books
Phillips, G. (2018) 'Animals in and at War.' In Kean, H., Howell, P. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Animal-Human History. Routledge, pp. 422-445.
Phillips, G. (2017) ''Of nimble service': Technology, equestrianism and the cavalry arm of early modern western european armies.' Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450-1660. pp. 59-79.
Phillips, G. (2015) '“La Cavalerie au Combat au XIXe siècle,”.' L’Âge D’Or de la Cavalerie. Gallimand,
Phillips, G. (2012) 'Scotland in the age of the military revolution, 1488-1560.' In Spiers, E.M., Crang, J.A., Strickland, M.J. (ed.) A Military History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 182-208.
Phillips, G. (2007) ''"Of Nimble Service": Technology, Equestrianism and the Cavalry Arm of Early Modern European Armies,".' Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450-1660. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 21-58.
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Internet publications
Phillips, G. (2024) Ukraine war: a warning for Kyiv’s western allies from the failed Polish uprising of 1830-31. https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-a-warning-for-kyivs-western-allies-from-the-failed-polish-uprising-of-1830-31-225625.
Phillips, G. (2019) "Fourth of July: national celebrations mask America’s centuries-old divisions" The Conversation, 04/07/2019. https://theconversation.com/uk.
Phillips, G. (2019) "‘Russian spy whale’: the disturbing history of military marine mammals" The Conversation, 30/04/2019. https://theconversation.com/uk.
Phillips, G. (2018) Remembering the Battle of Amiens, BBC History Extra. https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/amiens-battle-facts-first-world-war-history-remembered/.
Phillips, G. (2018) "Syria bombing has troubling echoes of Vietnam’s Operation Rolling Thunder," The Conversation, 17/04/2018. https://theconversation.com/uk.
Phillips, G. (2018) "Antisemitism: how the origins of history’s oldest hatred still hold sway today," The Conversation, 27/02/2018. https://theconversation.com/uk.
Phillips, G. (2017) "For a nation of dog lovers Britain treats its canine veterans shamefully," The Conversation, 4/12/2017. https://theconversation.com/uk.
Phillips, G. (2017) "L’armée française et les guerres mondiales : dépasser les idées reçues," The Conversation France, 29/08/2017. https://theconversation.com/uk.
Phillips, G. (2017) "‘Cheese-eating surrender monkeys’? It’s time to give the French Army the credit it deserves," The Conversation, 01/08/2017. https://theconversation.com/uk.
Phillips, G. (2017) The pigeons of Passchendaele – and why animals still suffer and die in modern conflicts. https://theconversation.com/the-pigeons-of-passchendaele-and-why-animals-still-suffer-and-die-in-modern-conflicts-79056?sa=google&sq=gervace+phillips&sr=1.
Phillips, G. (2017) "The violent birth of ‘martyrdom’ – how the ancient concept informs modern religious violence," The Conversation, 04/07/2017. https://theconversation.com/uk.
Phillips, G. (2013) England; Scotland and the European 'Military Revolution', 1480-1560. https://www.academia.edu/10405187/England_Scotland_and_the_European_Military_Revolution_1480-1560.
Phillips, G. (2013) Sabre versus Revolver: Mounted Combat in the American Civil War. https://www.academia.edu/205649/Sabre_versus_Revolver_Mounted_Combat_in_the_American_Civil_War.
Phillips, G. (2012) Mr. Lincoln and the Runaways: The Case of the Matson Slaves, 1847. https://www.academia.edu/205654/Mr._Lincoln_and_the_Runaways_The_Case_of_the_Matson_Slaves_1847.
Phillips, G. (2007) The War on Terror Goes to Sea: Maritime Terrorism and Piracy in Littoral Waters. https://www.academia.edu/205664/The_War_on_Terror_Goes_to_Sea_Maritime_Terrorism_and_Piracy_in_Littoral_Waters.
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Journal articles
Phillips, G. (2023) 'European Cavalry, 1815-1871: the challenge of "Arms of Precision".' Nuova Antologia Militare, 16(4) pp. 91-116.
Phillips, G., Sandy, L. (2021) 'Slavery and the “American Way of War” 1607-1861.' Comparative Studies in Society and History: an international quarterly, 63(4) pp. 825-850.
Phillips, G. (2021) 'The Employment of War Dogs in the Medieval and Early Modern West.' British Journal for Military History, 7(1) pp. 2-20.
Sandy, L., Phillips, G. (2021) '“Known to be Equal to the Management”: The Modernising Planter and the Enslaved Overseer.' Journal of Global Slavery, 6(1) pp. 156-178.
Phillips, G., Sandy, L. (2020) 'Reputation and 'Reputational Entrepreneurship' in the Colonial South and Early Republic: The Case of Plantation Overseers..' Historical Research, 94(263) pp. 96-116.
Phillips, G. (2018) 'Pigeons in the Trenches: animals, communications technologies and the British Expeditionary Force, 1914-1918.' The British Journal for Military History, 4(3)
Phillips, G. (2018) '“Technology, ‘Machine Age’ Warfare, and the Military Use of Dogs, 1880–1918,”.' Journal of Military History, 82(1) pp. 67-94.
Phillips, G. (2017) 'La transformación de la moral militar: armas y soldados en el campo de batalla del siglo XIX.' Revista Universitaria de Historia Militar On-line, 6(11)
Phillips, G. (2014) 'Deviance, Persecution and the Roman Creation of Christianity.' Journal of Historical Sociology, 29(2) pp. 250-270.
Phillips, G. (2013) 'Writing Horses into American Civil War History.' WAR IN HISTORY, 20(2) pp. 160-181.
Phillips, G. (2011) 'Military morality transformed: Weapons and soldiers on the nineteenth-century Battlefield.' Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 41(4) pp. 565-590.
Phillips, G. (2011) ''Who shall say that the days of cavalry are over?' The revival of the mounted arm in Europe, 1853-1914.' War in History, 18(1) pp. 5-32.
Phillips, G. (2007) 'Scapegoat arm: Twentieth-century cavalry in Anglophone historiography.' Journal of Military History, 71(1) pp. 37-74.
Phillips, G. (2003) 'Douglas Haig and the development of twentieth-century cavalry.' Archives, 28(109) pp. 142-162..
Phillips, G. (2002) ''Of nimble service': technology, equestrianism and the cavalry arm of early modern western European armies..' War and society, 20(2) pp. 1-22..
Phillips, G. (2002) 'The obsolescence of the arme-blanche and technological determinism in British military history.' WAR IN HISTORY, 9(1) pp. 39-59.
Phillips, G. (2001) 'To cry Home, Home!: Mutiny, morale and indiscipline in Tudor armies.' JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY, 65(2) pp. 313-332.
Phillips, G. (2000) '“Irish Ceatharnaigh in English Service, 1544-1550 and the development of ‘Gaelic Warfare’,”.' Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 78pp. 163-172.
Phillips, G. (1999) 'Strategy and its limitations: The Anglo-Scots wars, 1480-1550.' WAR IN HISTORY, 6(4) pp. 396-416.
Phillips, G. (1999) 'Longbow and hackbutt - Weapons technology and technology transfer in early modern England.' TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE, 40(3) pp. 576-593.
Phillips, G. (1999) 'Strategy and its limitations: The Anglo-Scots wars, 1480-1550.' War in History, 6(4) pp. 396-416.
Phillips, G. (1999) '“Strategy and its Limits; The Anglo-Scots Wars 1480-1550,” , 6 (1999), pp.396-416.' War in History, 6pp. 396-416.
Phillips, G. (1998) 'In the shadow of Flodden: Tactics, technology and Scottish military effectiveness, 1513-1550.' SCOTTISH HISTORICAL REVIEW, 77(204) pp. 162-182.
Phillips, G. (1997) 'An Army of Giants: Height and Medical Characteristics of Welsh Soldiers of the First World War.' Archives: The Journal of the British Records Society, 22pp. 141-146.
Phillips, G. (1997) 'The Army of Henry VIII: A Reassessment.' Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 75pp. 8-22.
Phillips, G. (1995) 'Dissertations and Databases, The Historian As Software Engineer.' ALT-J: The Journal of Learning Technology, 3pp. 48-52.
Phillips, G. (1993) ''Dai Bach y Soldiwr': Welsh Soldiers in the British Army 1914-1918.' Llafur: Journal of Welsh Labour History, 6(2) pp. 94-105.
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Non-peer reviewed articles / reviews
Phillips, G. ‘Slave Resistance in the Antebellum South,’ History Review 59 (2007).
Phillips, G. (2022) "Let Slip the Dogs of War: Canine Companions in Military Roles during the Middle Ages,".
Phillips, G. (2019) Animal Labor and Colonial Warfare By James L. Hevia.
Phillips, G. (2018) Amiens Centenary: Experience and Men gave Allies Advantage.
Phillips, G. (2016) William Howe and the American War of Independence.
Phillips, G. (2015) Theirs Not to Reason Why: Horsing the British Army, 1875-1925 by Graham Winton.
Phillips, G. (2015) Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamist Group: 2005-2012.
Phillips, G. (2014) Peacekeepers and Conquerors: The Army Officer Corps on the American Frontier, 1821-1846.
Phillips, G. (2014) Fatal Rivalry, Flodden 1513: Henry VIII, James IV and the Battle for Renaissance Britain..
Phillips, G. (2013) Jackson's Sword: The Army Officer Corps on the American Frontier, 1810-1821.
Phillips, G. (2013) From Boer War to World War: Tactical Reform of the British Army, 1902-1914.
Phillips, G. (2013) "A Life in Chains" in The American Civil War Story, 150th Anniversary Edition, BBC History Magazine.
Phillips, G. (2013) "A Life in Chains" in The American Civil War Story, 150th Anniversary Edition, BBC History Magazine (May, 2013).
Phillips, G. (2012) Enduring Battle: American Soldiers in Three Wars, 1776-1945.
Phillips, G. (2012) War Horses: Black Beauties of the Western Front.
Phillips, G. (2011) Defining Citizenship and Making a Public: Rhetoric, Writing and Welfare Policy in Nineteenth-Century America.
Phillips, G. (2010) Light Horse: A History of Australia's Mounted Arm.
Phillips, G. (2010) Women's Activism, Race and Reform in the Progressive Era.
Phillips, G. (2009) The Complete Soldier: Military Books and Military Culture in Early Stuart England, 1603-1645..
Phillips, G. (2007) Slave Resistance in the Antebellum South.
Phillips, G. (2007) Red Sabers.
Phillips, G. (2007) "Red Sabers".
Phillips, G. (2007) Testing the Mystery of the English.
Phillips, G. (2006) Was the American Civil War the first Modern War?.
Phillips, G. (2006) Henry VIII and Scotland.
Phillips, G. (2006) Border fury: England and Scotland at war, 1296-1568..
Phillips, G. (2006) ‘Was the American Civil War the first Modern War?’ History Review 56 (2006).
Phillips, G. (2006) ‘Henry VIII and Scotland,’ History Review 55 (2006).
Phillips, G. (2005) Warhorses of the U.S. civil war.
Phillips, G. (2005) Warhorses of the U.S. Civil War.
Phillips, G. (2005) Janet Watson, 'Fighting Different Wars: Experience, Memory, and the First World War in Britain'.
Phillips, G. (2004) Testing the "Mystery of the English".
Phillips, G. (2003) Guns and men in medieval Europe, 1200-1500..
Phillips, G. (2000) Cromwell in Ireland.
Phillips, G. (2000) Monro, his expedition with the worthy Scots regiment called MacKeys.
Phillips, G. (1999) My wound is deep: A history of the later Anglo-Scots wars.
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Other
Phillips, G. (2010) 'Animals and the Military', Oxford Bibliographies On-Line, Military History.
Phillips, G. (2005) ‘Bosworth’, ‘Flodden’, ‘Pavia’, ‘Panipat,’ in Jeremy Black (Ed.) The Seventy Great Battles in History.
Phillips, G. (2004) Edward Stanley, 1st Baron Monteagle,(1460?-1523)’, ‘Peter Whithorne (fl.1543-1563)’, ‘Sir Ralph Sadler, (1507-1587)’, ‘Sir George Bowes (1517-1556)’, ‘Sir William Molyneux (1483-1548)’ in New Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Phillips, G. (2001) “Mesopotamia, 1914-1918”, “The Great Italian Wars, 1494-1544”, “The Valois-Habsburg Wars, 1529-1559”, “Anglo-French Wars of the Sixteenth Century”, Habsburg-Ottoman Wars 1614-1683”, “Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba (1453-1515)” in Charles Messenger (Ed.), The Reader’s Guide to Military History.
Phillips, G. (2000) “Agincourt Massacre”, “Assurance”, “Ransom” and “Slavery” in Jonathan F.Vance (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Prisoners of War and Internment.