Mark Shearwood has had a lifelong interest in military history and wargaming. He is now in the second year of his Ph.D. at the University of Leeds. Following a brief career in the Royal Engineers he spent most of his working life with the courier industry, returning to complete his master’s degree at Leeds in 2018. The plug bayonet and its public perception has always been of interest and was the subject of his master’s dissertation. His primary research focus is on the military of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century from the Monmouth Rebellion to the end of the Great Northern War. His current Ph.D. research is looking into issues of religion and loyalty within the armies of James II and William III. He is married with four children and lives in Chesterfield on the edge of the Peak District.
