Die Armbrust (German Edition) [Unknown Binding]

Egon Harmuth (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: German
Introduction: English

Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 168 pages
• Publisher: Akadem. Druck- u. Verlagsanst (1975)
• Language: German
• ISBN-10: 3201009334
• ISBN-13: 978-3201009331
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,557,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Available Source, February 22, 2002

By 

David Watson (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Die Armbrust (German Edition)

Egon Harmuth's "Die Armbrust" is the best available work on Medieval and Renaissance crossbows. Though it is available only in German, and is currently out of print, the line drawings and radiographs alone are well worth a considerable effort to obtain this book.
Harmuth shows the development of the crossbow from its earliest roots, with reproductions of contemporary illustrations of crossbows through the centuries. He includes line drawings of the stocks, samples of decoration, a valuable chapter on bow theory and actual Medieval crossbow performance, and radiographs of crossbow locks. This is the modern equivalent of Ralph Payne-Gallwey's venerable "The Crossbow", with modern scholarship to back it up. There are other good sources, notably Paterson's "A Guide to the Crossbow, and Alm's "A Survey of European Crossbows", but this one is the mother lode. I can imagine a better book on ancient crossbows, but I have yet to see one. DRW.