About
Professor Mark Knights is a historian specializing in early modern British and imperial political culture at the University of Warwick's Department of History (Faculty of Arts). He holds a PhD from Oxford University (1990) and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His research focuses on corruption, political discourse, print culture, and the intersection of politics, literature, and ideas. He leads major projects like the AHRC-funded Early Modern Forum and the Coventry Collective Biography initiative. Awards include the AHRC Leadership Fellowship (2014-16) and Leverhulme Trust Fellowship (2020).
Teaching includes undergraduate modules on Stuart England, corruption history, and Georgian Britain, as well as postgraduate supervision in early modern studies. He has advised numerous PhD students on topics ranging from colonial corruption to emotional histories. Public engagement includes BBC Radio 4 appearances, TV contributions (e.g., Who Do You Think You Are?), and writing for History Today and The Conversation.
Research projects explore corruption in Britain and its empire, early modern political language, and petitioning practices. Current work includes studies on James Boevey and Coventry’s historical memory project. He has held leadership roles in JISC and British Academy initiatives, and serves on editorial boards for Parliamentary History and Boydell & Brewer’s Studies in the Eighteenth Century series.
