Stephen Richard Turnbull is a historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 specializing in eastern military history

Military history

Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....

, especially the samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The books he wrote are mainly on Japanese and Mongolian subjects.

He attended Cambridge University where he gained his first degree. He currently holds an MA in Theology, MA in Military History and a PhD from the University of Leeds

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

 where he is currently a lecturer in Far Eastern Religions.

He has also written a number of books on other medieval topics. He was on the editorial board of the short-lived Medieval History Magazine

Medieval History Magazine

Medieval History Magazine was a magazine dedicated to the medieval era, with a readership encompassing historians, re-enactors and other individuals interested in the history of the Middle Ages....

(2003–2005), which was published in association with the Royal Armouries

Royal Armouries

The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's National Museum of Arms and Armour. It is the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is also one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising the UK's National Collection of Arms and...

. He is also a consultant for the widely successful PC game Shogun: Total War

Shogun: Total War

Shogun: Total War is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics computer game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Electronic Arts. Released in June 2000, the game is the debut title in The Creative Assembly's Total War series...

 and its anticipated sequel Shogun 2: Total War

Shogun 2: Total War

Total War: Shogun 2 is a strategy computer game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is the latest installment in the Total War series and returns to the 16th-century Japan setting of the first Total War game, Shogun: Total War, after a series of games set mainly in Europe...

, both products of Creative Assembly

Creative Assembly

The Creative Assembly is a British video game developer established in 1987 by Tim Ansell and based in the West Sussex town of Horsham. An Australian branch is also operated from Fortitude Valley, Queensland...

.

Selected works

• 1979 – Samurai armies, 1550–1615. London: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 0-85045-302-X; 13-ISBN 978-0-85045-302-7; OCLC 6489751
  • reprinted by Osprey, 2003: OCLC 225518299
• 1980 – The Mongols. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 0-85045-372-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-85045-372-0
• 1982 – The Book of the Samurai. Leicester, England: Magna Books. 10-ISBN 0-948509-30-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-948509-30-8; OCLC 15875673
• 1985 – The Book of the Medieval Knight. London: Arms and Armour Press. 10-ISBN 0-85368-715-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-85368-715-3; OCLC 12501653.
• 1987 – Samurai Warriors. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press. 10-ISBN 0-7137-1767-X; 13-ISBN 978-0-7137-1767-9; OCLC 17551861
• 1989 – Samurai Warlords: The Book of the Daimyō. London: Blandford. 10-ISBN 0-7137-2003-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-7137-2003-7; OCLC 22628902
• 1991 – Ninja: The True Story of Japan's Secret Warrior Cult. Poole, Dorset: Firebird Books. 10-ISBN 1-85314-109-7; 13-ISBN 978-1-85314-109-6; OCLC 24701255
• 1996 – The Samurai: A Military History. London: Routledge
  Routledge
  Routledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
  
  . 10-ISBN 1-873410-38-7; 13-ISBN 978-1-873410-38-7
• 1997 – Samurai Warfare. London: Arms and Armour Press. 10-ISBN 1-85409-432-7; 13-ISBN 978-1-85409-432-2; OCLC 38030598
• 1998 – The Samurai Sourcebook. London: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-371-1; 13-ISBN 978-1-85409-371-4; OCLC 60220867
  • reprinted by Cassell
    Orion Publishing Group
    Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It is owned by Hachette Livre. In 1998 Orion bought Cassell.-History:Full history of the group can be found on Orion Publishing Group is owned by -Imprints:...
    
    , London, 2000. 10-ISBN 1-85409-523-4; 13-ISBN 978-1-85409-523-7; OCLC 59400034
• 2000 – Nagashino 1575: Slaughter at the Barricades. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-85532-619-1; 13-ISBN 978-1-85532-619-4
• 2001 – Ashigaru 1467–1649: Weapons, Armour, Tactics. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-149-4; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-149-7
• 2001 – The Knight Triumphant: The High Middle Ages, 1314–1485. London: Cassell. 10-ISBN 0-304-35971-8; 13-ISBN 978-0-304-35971-4; OCLC 51108644
• 2002 – Samurai Heraldry. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-304-7; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-304-0
• 2002 – Samurai Invasion: Japan's Korean War, 1592–1598. London: Cassell. 10-ISBN 0-304-35948-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-304-35948-6
• 2002 – War in Japan: 1467–1615. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-480-9; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-480-1
• 2003 – Genghis Khan & the Mongol Conquests 1190–1400. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-523-6; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-523-5
• 2003 – Japanese castles, 1540–1640. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-429-9; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-429-0
• 2003 – Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949–1603. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-573-2; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-573-0
• 2003 – Kawanakajima 1553–1564: Samurai Power Struggle. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-562-7; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-562-4
• 2003 – Ninja AD 1460–1650. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-525-2; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-525-9
• 2003 – Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-561-9; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-561-7; OCLC 51779463
• 2004 – The Walls of Constantinople: AD 324–1453. Oxford:Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-759-X; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-759-8
• 2005 – Warriors of Medieval Japan. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-864-2; 13-ISBN 978-1-84603-220-2
• 2005 – Samurai Commanders. Oxford: Osprey Publishing
  Osprey Publishing
  Osprey Publishing is an Oxford-based publishing company specializing in military history. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company produces over a dozen ongoing series, each focusing on a specific aspect of...
  
  . 10-ISBN 1-84176-743-3
• 2006 – Samurai: the world of the warrior. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. 10-ISBN 1-84176-951-7; 13-ISBN 978-1-84176-951-6
• 2008 – The Samurai Swordsman: Master of War. London: Frontline Books. 10-ISBN 1-84415-712-1; 13-ISBN 978-1-84415-712-9; OCLC 181927617

Journal articles

• "Legacy of Centuries: The Walls of Constantinople", Medieval History Magazine
  Medieval History Magazine
  Medieval History Magazine was a magazine dedicated to the medieval era, with a readership encompassing historians, re-enactors and other individuals interested in the history of the Middle Ages....
  
  (MHM), Issue 2, October 2003.
• "Mongol strategy and the Battle of Leignitz 1241", MHM, Issue 3, November 2003.
• "The Teutonic Knights' battle for Riga", MHM, Issue 6, February 2004.
• "The Passing of the Medieval Castle", MHM, Issue 9, May 2004.
• "St Catherine's Monastery: Sanctuary of Ages", MHM, Issue 11 July 2004.
• "Fighting Cardinals: Henry Beaufort & Guiliano Cesarini", MHM, Issue 13, September 2004.
• "A Tale of Two Cities: Siege success and failure at Constantinople and Belgrade", MHM, Issue 16, December 2004.
• "The Blunted Arrowhead: The defensive role of the great medieval fortresses of Albania", MHM, Issue 17, January 2005.

Honors

• British Association for Japanese Studies
  British Association for Japanese studies
  The British Association for Japanese Studies, BAJS, is an association at Essex University in the United Kingdom, whose aim is to promote studies in the Japan...
  
  , Cannon Prize.
• Japan Festival Literary Award