ABSTRACT
In her contribution to a roundtable discussion on ‘Historians and Biography’ for the American Historical Review, Lois Banner observed that
However, since the 1990s, historians have turned to producing what Banner refers to as the ‘new biography’, the history that emphasises the power of culture in shaping the self but at the same time the ability of individuals to internalise cultural roles and rebel against them, thus also inuencing their culture and historical development.2 is ‘new biography’ interweaves a multitude of disciplines and reects current historiographical concerns.3 It is in this tradition that I have been endeavouring to embark upon the biography of Philip Skippon, sergeant-major-general of the New Model Army, which (surprisingly) has not been attempted to date. Recently, historians such as Barbara Donagan have emphasised the importance of England’s pre-war experience in shaping ideological attitudes towards civil war in England. She argues that the actions and capabilities of armies in the English Civil War of 1642-1649 were shaped by the pre-existing mental and moral formation of soldiers, which was part of a wider European military culture.4
