Langdon undertook his doctoral work at the University of Birmingham, UK[1] under the supervision of Christopher Dyer.
[2] He worked at the University of Alberta, Canada (1984–2010), being appointed assistant professor of British medieval history in 1984.
[5] He is best known for his contributions on medieval English technology, chiefly two monographs: Horses, Oxen and Technological Innovation: The Use of Draught Animals in English Farming from 1066–1500 (Cambridge University Press, 1986)[6][7][8] and Mills in the Medieval Economy: England 1300–1540 (Oxford University Press, 2004).
With Grenville G. Astill, he edited Medieval Farming and Technology: The Impact of Agricultural Change in Northwest Europe (Brill, 1997).
With Richard Goddard and Miriam Müller he edited a festschrift for Professor Christopher Dyer: Survival and Discord in Medieval Society, Essays in Honour of Christopher Dyer.
[15] Horses, Oxen and Technological Innovation: The Use of Draught Animals in English Farming from 1066–1500 Mills in the Medieval Economy: England 1300–1540 Langdon, John.
"Horse Hauling: A Revolution in Vehicle Transport in Twelfth and Thirteenth-century England?"
"The Mobilization of Labour in the Milling Industry of Thirteenth- and Early Fourteenth-century England."
"Inland Water Transport in Medieval England — the View from the Mills: A Response to Jones."
"Tower Windmills in Medieval England: A Case of Arrested Development?"
"Commercial Activity and Population Growth in Medieval England" Past & Present 190, no.
Tara Gale, John Langdon and Natalie Leishman “Piety and Political Accommodation in Norman England”, Haskins Society Journal, vol.
Bailey, B. Gregory, Meaghan E Bernard, Gregory Carrier, Cherise L Elliott, John Langdon, Natalie Leishman, Michal Mlynarz, Oksana Mykhed, and Lindsay C Sidders.
"An Early Seventeenth-century River Environment: the 1618 Survey of the Itchen" Hampshire Studies Volume 72, Number 1, December 2017, pp. 142–165.