New Infantry, New Weapons

by on November 15, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Posted In: Books, History

Part two of Osprey’s survey of European Medieval Tactics is much like the first volume. Unfortunately, while I felt the first volume started strong and finished somewhat weaker, all of this volume is at the level of the later portions of the first.

The main problem is that the first one started with a fairly solid thesis, and then lost its way in the later part of the period. This volume is still useful as a general introduction to a subject that gets too little attention, but it just wanders from place to place, and time to time, without any central ideas stated.

There are another thirteen small battle diagrams included (compared to seven in the first volume), which seem to be more crowded and harder to follow than before. This may indicate the battles are getting more complicated. I don’t know this period as well, so fewer of the battles discussed there or in the eight color plates are familiar to me, though there were still a few I knew.

I’ll also note that Osprey has a volume on Pike and Shot Tactics 1590—1660. I wonder if they have anything planned for 1500—1590?

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Bosworth 1485

by on November 12, 2012 at 10:40 pm
Posted In: Books, History

As usual, Osprey’s Campaign series does an excellent job of presenting the background and people involved in the battle in question. In this case, the later stages of the Wars of the Roses, and Richard III’s reign are covered very well. There is a lot that cannot be known through the distorting lens of Tudor propaganda, but some good points are made.

The general course of Henry Tudor’s landing and march into central England are handled well (I like the Campaign series in general because it is as much about the maneuvering to battle as much as the battle itself), with the usual excellent maps. There are also several very nice two-page spread original color paintings by Graham Turner scattered throughout, instead of art borrowed from previous books. There are two problems here: One, they usually have a paragraph or so of the main text over part of the art, and the contrast is often low enough to make reading the text difficult. Two, the people, even when they are supposed to be in motion, look posed. Other than that, they’re fine pieces, but my eyes are trained by an artist also educated as an animator; these people don’t look like they’re moving.

A final problem is that the book was published in 1999, and a couple surveys conducted since then indicate the battle may have been fought about two miles from where it was previously believed to be. It is still worth picking up, especially if found cheap, but I hope that once the resulting arguments start working their way through academia, Osprey will release a new edition of the volume.

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The Wars of the Roses

by on November 5, 2012 at 9:58 pm
Posted In: Books

Osprey’s title on the Wars of the Roses is typical of their Man-at-Arms line. Half the book is a good simple history of the period, and a fairly solid introduction to it. There’s no details, no sense of the people, but given the proverbial confusion that the Wars can engender, this cut-down summary seems to be a good place to start.

It is also nice in that it manages to point out a fair amount of ‘received fiction’ in the normal accounts, beginning with a paragraph-long description of the Wars, and then stating “A familiar story perhaps: but not containing a word of truth.”

It’s an early Osprey book, so the color plates are good without being great. However, the discussion of the plates is extra long, and informative.

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The Armies of Agincourt

by on October 23, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Posted In: Books

I just finished reading this early Osprey book, and while it’s well done, I don’t think I can recommend it. It covers the Battle of Agincourt, and the campaign that led up to it, quite well, but Osprey’s later Campaign book on the subject should do the same thing in more detail. The color plates are not bad, but they’re not very good either. That leaves the discussion of the actual equipment and troops in both armies, and those are at least partially covered in MAA 337 French Armies of the Hundred Years War, and Warrior 35 English Medieval Knight 1400–1500.

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The Prospect of Europe

by on October 18, 2012 at 10:22 am
Posted In: Books

Margaret Aston’s The Fifteenth Century is the second book I’ve read from the Library of World Civilization series, which seems to be pretty good in all. The books come with a large number of illustrations well placed with the text they’re illustrating. However, these are older books and the layout can be cramped.

The thesis of this one is that at the beginning of the 15th Century, western culture can be seen as “Christendom”, but by the end of the century, there is a move towards a European (instead of religious) community.

After talking about it in the first chapter, there’s no more direct discussion in the rest of the book, but it does go on to tackle a variety of subjects in considerable length, ranging from changing views of knowledge, how the past was different from the present (and the creation of the idea that historical figures should not be presented in contemporary dress and scenery), to the changing relationship of the church and the layman.

In all, it is a very informative read, and a great starting point on the period.

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