Mike Horswell – Editor

Who am I?

I am an experienced editor passionate about helping authors sharpen their ideas and share them with the world. Coming from an academic background, I specialise in editing nonfiction works, especially history and theology aimed at both popular and academic audiences.

I love getting stuck into a good project, rooting out interesting ideas and working with authors to present them with clarity and insight. And I’m enthusiastic to bring new understanding and critical thinking to wider audiences. As an editor I pair historical acumen with an appreciation for clear, logical, and engaging writing; I find great satisfaction in seeing projects through from concept to publication.

What do I offer?

I provide editorial services at all stages of the publication process – from editorial assessment of manuscripts, development editing, conceptual planning and book structuring to copy and line editing, proofreading and indexing. This can be tailored for individual projects to be as hands off or as consultative as required.

I work with publishers to review and edit works and I help authors distil their ideas, find their voice and communicate clearly with their audiences.

I offer editorial expertise in:

- historical writing

- Christian theology aimed at popular audiences

- general nonfiction works

- historical consultancy; especially for the crusades, Victorian and modern Britain, and uses of the medieval past

My experience

I have edited four volumes for Routledge, working with over twenty authors for the book series Engaging the Crusades; within academia I have reviewed book manuscripts for academic presses (Routledge, McFarland) and journal articles (First World War Studies, Religion, Open Library of the Humanities).

As a historian I have researched, taught and published on the modern use of the crusades in popular culture and political discourse, ranging from history books to Wikipedia, and from Punch cartoons to graphic novels. I am an expert in medievalism – the modern use of the medieval past – and have worked on Victorian and twentieth-century Britain, the medieval crusades, memory studies and modern pop culture. I am continually fascinated with the intersection between past and present, between history and contemporary culture.

I have a PhD in History from Royal Holloway (University of London) and I've taught modern history at the University of Oxford, King's College London, Royal Holloway, and the University of Bayreuth. In addition, I have worked as a tutor at a theological college in the UK teaching church history.

I've also published my own book on the modern memory of the crusades in Britain – so I have empathy for the hard work publishing a book involves!