Philip MacDougall is a much-published local historian who has written several books on subjects relating to the south of England with books published on Chichester, the Medway Towns, and Portsmouth. His more specialised interest is naval dockyards and navies of the 18th century. Among his most recent books are detailed studies of the former royal dockyards of Portsmouth and Chatham with other books on the Russian and Ottoman navies. His current fee for a standard talk is £80 plus travel.