Dr. Timothy Stapleton
Positions
Professor
Contact information
For media enquiries, contact
Background
Educational Background
Doctor of Philosophy History, Dalhousie University, 1993
M.A. History, Dalhousie University, 1990
B.A. History, Memorial University, 1989
Biography
Dr. Tim Stapleton is a Professor in the Department of History and the Graduate Program Director at the Center for Military, Security and Strategic Studies. His area of expertise is African Military History, and he currently holds a research associate position at the Faculty of Military Science at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Substantive Academic Positions:
Professor/Associate Prof/Assistant Prof, Department of History, Trent University 1998-2015
Senior Lecturer, Department of History, University of Fort Hare, South Africa 1995-98
Post-doctoral Fellow/Lecturer, Department of History, Rhodes University, South Africa 1993-94
Research Affiliations:
Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 2024-27
Nigerian Defence Academy 2019-Present
University of Zambia 2013
University of Botswana 2010
University of Zimbabwe 2000-2009
Rhodes University, South Africa 1991-92
Research
Areas of Research
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| HTST 57301 SEC 01 S01 | Topics in African History | 2021 |
| HTST 202 LEC 01 01 | An Intro to Military History | 2021 |
| HTST 402 LEC 01 01 | Military History of Africa | 2020 |
| HTST 63701 LEC 01 01 | Topics in Military History | 2020 |
Projects
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Insight Grant, 2016-2021
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), External Standard Grant, 2011-13
SSHRC, External Standard Grant, 2007-2009
SSHRC, External Standard Grant, 2001-2003
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSRHC) Insight Grant, 2023-27
Awards
- Leader in Internationalization, Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary. 2020
- Nelson Mandela Distinguished Africanist Award, Africa Conference, University of Texas at Austin. 2019
- Outstanding Reference Source, Reference and User Services Association (American Library Association). 2018
- Merit Award for Research, Trent University. 2011
- Merit Award for Research, Trent University. 2010
- Merit Award for Research, Trent University. 2006
- Merit Award for Teaching and Research, Trent University. 2002
- Gold Medal for Academic Excellence in History, Memorial University . 1988
Publications
- Barracks Islam and Command Christianity: Religion in Britain’s West African Colonial Army (c.1900-1960). Timothy Stapleton. War and Society, Vol. 39, Issue 1. 1-22. (2020)
- The Gold Coast Brigade’s Crossing of the Juba River, Italian Somaliland, February 1941. International Journal of Military History and Historiography. 426-485. (2023)
- The ‘Wars:’ The Ambiguous Military History of the West African Regiment of Sierra Leone (1898-1928). Timothy Stapleton. Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 100 (2022). 50-71. (2022)
- Sexual Health in Britain’s West African Colonial Army (1898-1960). Timothy Stapleton. Journal of Military History, Vol. 85, No. 3 (July 2021). 619-645. (2021)
- Visual Symbols and Military Culture in Britain’s West African Colonial Army (c.1900-60). Timothy Stapleton. International Journal of Military History and Historiography, 41. 42-73. (2021)
- The Creation and Early Development of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF) 1980-93. Timothy Stapleton. Tempo e Argumento (Brazil), Vol. 13, No. 32. 1-25. (2021)
- Martial Identities in Colonial Nigeria (c.1900-1960). Timothy Stapleton. Journal of African Military History, Vol. 3, No. 1. 1-32. (2019)
- Game Keepers and Counter-Insurgency in Kenya and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), 1952-1980. Timothy Stapleton. International Journal of African Historical Studies, 49, 2. 213-234. (2016)
- 'Tracking, Tracking and More Tracking Was Their Motto:’ Bush Tracking and Warfare in Late Twentieth Century Southern Africa. Timothy Stapleton. War and Society, Vol. 34, No. 4. 301-327. (2015)
- Bush Tracking and Warfare in Late Twentieth Century East and Southern Africa,. Timothy Stapleton. Historia, Vol. 60, No. 2 . 229-251. (2014)
- Extra-territorial African Police and Soldiers in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) 1897-1965. Timothy Stapleton. Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol. 38, No. 1. 99-115. (2010)
- A Naughty Child with a Pen:’ Gahadzikwa Albert Chaza as an African Policeman and Author in Colonial Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), 1936-63. Timothy Stapleton. History in Africa, 37. 159-187. (2010)
- Bad Boys: Infiltration and Sedition in the African Military Units of the Central African Federation (Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe) 1953-63. The Journal of Military History, Vol. 73, No. 4. 1167-1193. (2009)
- New Directions in African Military History, London: Routledge, 2025.. Timothy Stapleton. Routledge. 312. (2025)
- The Origins of the Nigerian and Ghana Navies (c.1930-1960). Stapleton, Timothy (ed.), African Navies: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, London: Routledge. 66-90. (2022)
- African Navies in the Twenty-First Century. Alexander Hill. Stapleton, Timothy (ed.), African Navies: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, London: Routledge. 183-212. (2022)
- African Navies: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Stapleton, Timothy (ed.), African Navies: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, London: Routledge. 252. (2022)
- West African Soldiers in Britain's Colonial Army, 1860-1960. Timothy Stapleton. Rochester University Press/Boydell and Brewer. 400. (2021)
- A History of Africa. Toyin Falola and Timothy Stapleton. Oxford University Press. 704. (2021)
- Valuable, Gallant and Faithful Assistants:’ The Fingo (or Mfengu) as Colonial Military Allies during the Cape-Xhosa Wars (1835-81). Timothy Stapleton. Stephen Miller (ed.) Soldiers and Settlers in Africa Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers. 15-47. (2021)
- Mpilo Walter Benson Rubusana: South Africa’s First Black Parliamentarian. Timothy Stapleton. Fradera, Josep; Portillo, Jose Maria, and Segura-Garcia, Teresa (ed.), Unexpected Voices in Imperial Parliaments, Bloomsbury. 183-204. (2021)
- Africa: War and Conflict in the Twentieth Century. Timothy Stapleton. Routledge. 224. (2018)
- A History of Genocide in Africa. Timothy Stapleton. ABC-Clio. 268. (2017)
- 'The Word is steeped in Blood and Violence’: Canadian-Style Federation in Southern Africa. Timothy Stapleton. Krikorian, J., Martel, M. and Shubert, A. (eds.) Globalizing Confederation: Canada and the World in 1867,University of Toronto Press. 226-241. (2017)
- The Africanization of British Imperial Forces in the East Africa Campaign: 1917. Timothy Stapleton. Douglas E. Delaney and Nikolas Gardner (eds.), Turning Point Year: The British Empire at War in 1917,UBC Press. 139-159. (2017)
- Refugee-Warriors and Other People’s Wars in Post-Colonial Africa: The Experience of Rwandese and South African Military Exiles (1960-94). Timothy Stapleton. Emmanuel M. Mbah and Toyin Falola (eds.), Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa,Routledge. 241-259. (2017)
- Maqoma: The Legend of a Great Xhosa Warrior . Timothy Stapleton. Amava Heritage Publishing. 336. (2016)
- Warfare and Tracking in Africa, 1952-1990. Timothy Stapleton. Routledge. 256. (2016)
- The External Military Operations of Colonial Southern Rhodesia and Independent Zimbabwe, 1895-2005. Timothy Stapleton. Toyin Falola and Charles Thomas (eds.), Securing Africa: Local Crises and Foreign Intervention, Routledge. 21-32. (2014)
- A Military History of Africa, 3 Vols. Timothy Stapleton. Praeger/ABC-Clio. 977. (2013)
- `The War of the Federation:’ African Security Force Personnel from Southern Rhodesia and the 1959 Nyasaland Emergency. Timothy Stapleton. Kings Phiri, John McCracken and Wapulumuka Mulwafu, (eds.) Malawi in Crisis: The 1959/60 State of Emergency and its Legacy, Press, Zomba, Malawi. 292-314. (2012)
- South Africa. Timothy Stapleton. Ian Beckett (ed.), Citizen Soldiers and Empire: The Amateur Military Tradition in the British Empire, 1837-1902,Routledge. 139-154. (2012)
- African Police and Soldiers in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1923-80. Timothy Stapleton. Rochester University Press/Boydell and Brewer. 330. (2011)
- A Military History of South Africa: From the Dutch-Khoi Wars to the End of Apartheid. Timothy Stapleton. Praeger/ABC-Clio. 229. (2010)
- Letters from Burma: Views of Black Zimbabwean Soldiers during the Second World War. Timothy Stapleton. Toyin Falola and Raphael Chijioke Njoku (eds.) War and Peace in Africa Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press. 261-278. (2010)
- No Insignificant Part: The Rhodesia Native Regiment and the East African Campaign of the First World War. Timothy Stapleton. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 200. (2006)
- The Impact of World War One on African People. Timothy Stapleton. John Laband (ed.) Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Africa: From Slavery Days to the Diamond Wars, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing. 113-137. (2006)
- Faku: Rulership and Colonialism in the Mpondo Kingdom, c.1780-1867. Timothy Stapleton. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 216. (2001)
- Faku, the Mpondo and Colonial Advance in the Eastern Cape, 1834-53. Timothy Stapleton. C. Youe and T. Stapleton, (eds.), Agency and Action in Colonial Africa: Essays in Honour of John Flint, London: MacMillian Publishers. 12-33. (2001)
- Maqoma: Xhosa Resistance to Colonial Advance, c.1798-1873. Jonathan Ball Publishers. (1994)
- The Importance of Operational Accounts in African Military History: Introduction. Timothy Stapleton. Journal of African Military History, 5 (2021). 73-76. (2021)
- Modern African Conflicts: An Encyclopedia of Civil Wars, Revolutions and Terrorism. Timothy Stapleton. ABC-Clio. 401. (2022)
- Encyclopedia of African Colonial Conflicts, 2 vols. Timothy Stapleton (editor). ABC-Clio. 787. (2016)
- Central African Republic: Coups, Mutinies, and Civil War. Timothy Stapleton. Oxford Encyclopedia of the Military in Politics, Oxford University Press. (2019)
- Union of South Africa. Timothy Stapleton. 1914-1918 Online, International Encyclopedia of the First World War. (2016)
In the News
- Calgary's Eritrean community looking for way forward after violent clash. CTV News. (2023)
- The Forgotten Heroes of Empire. Al Jazeera. (2019)
- Coup in Zimbabwe. CTV News. (2017)
- Death of Nelson Mandela. La Presse. (2013)
- Finding Your Roots. PBS.
- Queen Nzinga. Radio France International (RFI).
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