Childs first worked in the defence industry before becoming Sir James Knott Research Fellow at Newcastle University. From 1976 to 2009 he taught at the University of Leeds, initially as a Lecturer in the School of History and later as Professor of Military History and head of the Centre for Military History. He subsequently became Emeritus Professor.[1]
His research interests include the history of the British Army from 1660 to 1702 (published as a trilogy), the Stuart Restoration, and European military history of the early modern period. Childs has published numerous monographs and contributions, in particular the Glorious Revolution (1688/89). He is co-author with André Corvisier of A dictionary of military history and the art of war.
Childs is chairman of the Battlefields Panel of Historic England, chairman of the Royal Armouries Development Trust,[2] and a former trustee of the Royal Armouries.
Armies and warfare in Europe, 1648–1789. Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1982.[3]ISBN0-7190-0880-8
The British army of William III, 1689–1702. Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1987. ISBN0-7190-1987-7
The Nine Years' War and the British army, 1688–1697. Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1991.[4]ISBN0-7190-3461-2
A dictionary of military history and the art of war. Blackwell, Oxford 1994. (Edited and updated version of the original in French by André Corvisier) ISBN0-631-16848-6.
The military use of land. A history of the defence estate. Lang, Bern, 1998. ISBN978-3-906757-66-7
Warfare in the seventeenth century. Cassell, London, 2001. ISBN0-304-35289-6
The Williamite wars in Ireland, 1688–1691. Hambledon Continuum Press, London, 2007.[5]ISBN978-1-85285-573-4
General Percy Kirke and the later Stuart army. Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2014. ISBN978-1-4411-5882-6