Dr Thomas W. Smith

Dr Thomas Smith is a prize-winning author and public historian whose writing is praised as "lively, readable and accurate" (Lord Jonathan Sumption, The Spectator).

An elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society, Thomas received his PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London, in 2013.

A leading specialist on the crusades, Thomas is the author of The Fifth Crusade: A History of the Epic Campaign to Conquer Egypt (Yale, 2026), Rewriting the First Crusade (2024), Curia and Crusade (2017) and, with Dr Susan Edgington, The Deeds of the Franks who Conquered Jerusalem, an edition and translation published by Oxford University Press.

In 2026, Rewriting the First Crusade was Joint Winner (with Prof. Benjamin Kedar) of the SSCLE Best Book Prize, awarded every four years. In 2018, Curia and Crusade received a Highly Commended award in the British Records Association’s Janette Harley Prize.

Thomas has edited seven other academic books and written more than 40 articles and book chapters, including for the Cambridge History of the Crusades and The New Cambridge History of Britain.

Beyond the page, Thomas has made extensive media appearances on podcasts including History Extra, Gone Medieval (History Hit) and for Medievalists.

Thomas is an experienced public speaker and has delivered talks on medieval history across Britain, Ireland, the United States, Australia, Japan, Germany, Austria, France, and Israel.

All his books can be found on his Amazon Author page, but nothing beats ordering them from your local independent booksellers! Follow Thomas on Instagram, Facebook, and Academia.

He is represented by The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency.