Customer Reviews

Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight: An Illustrated History of Weaponry in the Middle Ages

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have forever been a fan of medieval arms. Most books on the subject simply do not give them justice. They go into very simple, sometimes non-acurate descriptions with little details (like one book I read saying a single-handed sword weighed as much as a bicycle - WHO's bike is only 2-3lbs, I have no idea!). David Edge is curator for the Wallace Collection of weapons and armor, and if anyone whould know anything on the subject, it's him. He even writes well! Full of incredible, acurate descriptions of the true weight, length, and terms of weaponry - and I love his description of early viking pattern-welding. You begin to see how increadibly efficient these tools were, dull, heavy choppers indeed! On the contrary, Edge shows how incredibly light swords and full plate were, and how they were perfected throughout the ages, constantly shifting to outmatch the other, pure elegent, efective, artistic lethalness. A must have for anyone with any interest in knights, weapons, and armor.

Wow!

That is all I can say. This book is the one that proved that good visuals do matter in history books. Arms and Armor of the Medieval Knight has it all: types of armor, weapons, historic data of where and when the weapon was used... but most important of all , VISUALS! Hundreds upon hundreds of page-size, full color photos of actual suits of armor, not crude drawings and diagrams that other books on the subject offer.

Also, I have to say that the texts is incredibly well-written an precise, the data is vast and accurate, and all the sources are quoted perfectly. This is the definitive book on the subject.

Lavishly illustrated guide takes you through the development of armor and knighthood from beginning to end. We use it daily as a source for inspiration at albionarmorers.com.

I think most everyone will agree that if there is one book on Medieval arms and amour that you buy, this is the one to get. I covers the complete history of the knight with hundreds of beautiful pictures of armour. My #1 reference. It also includes rare inside shots of some armour, and construction section.

This is THE book that I wish every SCA armorer and fighter had on his/her shelf and more importantly in the shop. It is a solid reference for every period activly covered by the Society. This book, with its excellent images and information, is always a good source of inspiration and documentation for any armor project that I take on. This book has raised my level of expectation of my own work and any other armorers work I come across. Its a must have for anyone who puts hammer to steel and wants to call it armor.

This book is really great--full of pictures and medieval art concerning armour. The chapters each cover a century in the development of armour. It takes a very archeological, historica approach to arms and armour. That's good because it makes an informative text, but I think the language a bit confusing at times, and not enough detail at other times. But it is a great book, for its pictures if nothing else.

Wow, this has to be the best, and about the only book you need to have on this subject. I have always loved medieval stuff, and have always been wondering what makes the knight tick. Well, now I know it all(and then some). The authors of this book really know what they're talking about. They start with a general desription of a knight for the preview, then they go from century to century and tell about how the knight evolved. They explain every detail with great discription. This book made it easy for anyone(even me) to understand everything they talk about. They have so many awesome pictures to look at from armor to old paintings, they even tell about all of them. This one is worth the money, in fact I think I'm ripping them off after reading it. This was the first real book I bought on the subject and am asking myself if I really need to buy any more. Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is this is a MUST HAVE & THE BEST BOOK for anyone with any questions about knights and medieval times up to the renassance. Pro's and Amateur's alike will love it to death. In my opinion, it needs 10 stars and not just 5.

I found this work to be very informative with excellent representations of the times and periods. Full color photos and prints of paintings representing armor pieces truely help the reader understand the complexity of armor as well as how it was constructed and worn. As an aspiring armor maker, I found this work to be very useful in creating my own armor based on representations within the pages. I have created several pieces and find this particular book by David Edges to be invaluable as I continue my craft. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the Medieval era for historical context or pleasure reading. It is a primary source for anyone studying Medieval armor or armor making.

Excellent book with many great pictures. I'm 12 and interested in medieval armor and obviously have many questions. It answered all but what is their favorite food. I highly recomend this book to people of all ages with many unanswered questions or people just interested armor. A very good book over all.

If you buy just one book on arms & armor, this should be the one. This authoritative work is an excellent resource and reference tool. The author gives comprehensive, century-by-century coverage of the development of arms and armor. In addition to the informative text, the rich illustrations make it a pictorial archive of immense value. These not only depict surviving museum pieces, but also medieval battle scenes. The illustrations alone make this book worth the price.