Peter Spring

Peter Spring has a BA in Modern History from Royal Holloway College and a MA in Medieval Art History from the Courtauld Institute. He is retired and lives in Faversham Kent.

Great Walls and Linear Barriers, 2015, is a global study of walls, ditches, dykes, abatis and border canals, from 2000 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia to the early modern era when the Russians and the Chinese closed down the steppe. It shows that far from being aberrations such walls are ubiquitous throughout history and a rational and effective response by settled states to the challenge from nomads, barbarians and migrants. It demonstrates how empires from China, Russia, Persia, Byzantium to Rome built linear barriers at exit points along the length of the Eurasian Steppe.

Sir John Tiptoft, 'Butcher of England', (1427-70), 2018, examines the life of one of the most complex and intelligent men of the later Middle Ages who provided a way forward for an aristocracy, bent on internecine self-destruction during the Wars of the Roses, as educated courtiers not feudal warriors. His execution for the application of the Roman law, lampooned as the 'laws of Padua', demonstrated the danger of identifying too closely with continental influences in an England increasingly defining itself against Europe. The contemporary denigration of his character by little Englander chroniclers reflected a deepening antipathy towards the cosmopolitan--a recurring trait in the English character perhaps, re-emerging with Brexit.

Spitfire, Mustang and the ‘Meredith Effect’, 2024, started as an investigation of this effect whereby the careful design of a ducted radiator for an liquid cooled aero engine meant that otherwise crippling cooling drag could be substantially negated and above certain speeds turned into thrust. ‘Meredith effect’ radiators were first used on the Spitfire rather inefficiently and later much more effectively on the North American Aviation Mustang. As the investigation progressed the question became inevitable, who was Meredith particularly as it became clear that the range of his inventions was huge, covering autopilots, bombsights and pioneering work on solid state gyroscopes. Leading on the next question was why was Meredith so little known. Research in The National Archive Security Services files revealed a fascinating story described in this book.