Customer Reviews

Armies of the Caliphates 862-1098 (Men-at-Arms)

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The book is excellent enough for an introduction to the inquiry for it is done by the leading and creative researcher on the much neglected field. Although limited by the size, not enough emphasizing was written into the strategy and tactics unique to the armies of the Islamic Caliphates. They were arguably the offseting balance that gave the Arabs serious advantage over the much heavier armored Byzantines, Persians, or even the Franks later during the crusades. A must for beginners, but not enough for the scholarly.

This Osprey title is a study of the armament, tactics, and uniforms of the soldiers that served in the Abbasid and Fatimid Caliphates 862-1098. The author David Nicolle needs little introduction as Osprey's most prolific author on medieval and Islamic topics. Graham Turner, as usual, does an excellent job with the color plates.

As usual Nicolle deals with the army organization and the weapons of the soldiers in detail. This title actually deals more with the battle tactics than most other men-at-arms titles do, and also takes an insightful look at the naval warfare of the time. Overall, it is another Osprey book by David Nicolle that breathes life into a Medieval Islamic Army in a manner that is both informative and entertaining.

This book is a little disappointing as it has a number of photos which do not seem directly relevent to the subject. Why for example are chess pieces used as examples of soldiers's uniforms as they are very stylised? Or take the clothing in Russian museum collections. The text is good like most of the work of this author which I have read and the illustrations of the many Islamic and Non-Islamic soldiers who fought for the Caliphates are well executed.