Stephen Richard Turnbull (born 6 February 1948) is a British historian concentrating on Japanese military history, especially the samurai period, and has published numerous books. He has worked as a historical consultant for the film 47 Ronin, as well multiple television documentaries, and the Shogun: Total War series of video games.

Biography

Turnbull attended Cambridge University where he gained his first degree. He currently holds 2 MAs in Theology and Military History and a PhD for his research on Kakure Kirishitan from the University of Leeds, where he is presently a lecturer in Far Eastern Religions, in a program of study jointly overseen by both the Departments of East Asian Studies and Theology and Religious Studies. He was on the editorial board of the short-lived Medieval History Magazine (2003–2005), which was published in association with the Royal Armouries. He was a consultant for the PC game Shogun: Total War and also its sequel Total War: Shogun 2, both products of Creative Assembly, as well as historical advisor on the Hollywood film 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves. He also appeared as a subject matter expert for the Netflix documentary series Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan in 2021. He is semi-retired, but still holds the post of Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at Akita International University in Japan.

Selected works

Journal articles

Filmography

Honours