Stewart Stansfield has enjoyed a peripatetic academic history. A youthful interest in a career in illustration and graphic design—and a stint in an extreme metal band—was stymied by a more sensible and remunerative move into geology. He completed his undergraduate degree at Manchester before studying for a PhD in volcanology under Steve Sparks at Bristol. His thesis drew upon weeks of fieldwork in Cameroon, Bali and the Aegean, and many hours pouring syrup down a slope in a freezer in Clifton. A second change in vocation followed, with a move from volcanoes into the field of early modern military history. Despite his best efforts, he has not yet been able to combine these disciplines. He read for an MA and a second PhD under John Childs at Leeds, where his research focused on the nature of command, control, communications and intelligence in the War of the Spanish Succession. His second doctoral thesis, adapted for publication here, is his first ‘serious’ book. He has also spent many years writing for and illustrating a variety of war- and role-playing games, like HeroQuest, with a particular focus on anthropomorphic duck wizards. A Boltonian, the author currently resides in Coppull, Lancashire.