The Hun: Scourge of God AD 375-565 (Warrior) [Paperback]

Nic Fields (Author), Christa Hook (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Warrior | Publication Date: November 28, 2006

The Huns were the most feared and notorious barbarians of the ancient world. The infamous Attila, king of the Huns, and his subjects were known to their Roman enemies as the 'scourge of god'. They were Turco-Mongol nomads, originating from the steppes of central Asia who migrated westward, shifting whole nations and leaving devastation in their wake.

The Huns were superb horsemen and excellent archers, fighting with a reflex composite-bow, which could penetrate armour at 100 yards, a more potent weapon than the longbow or any bow in use at the time. In battle they would strike fear into the hearts of their opponents and break up their formations, charging at them with surprising speed and apparent chaos whilst showering them with arrows. Thus their very name came to epitomise swift, merciless destruction.

Often the Huns are dismissed as barbarians, and thus historically they became a metaphor for barbarism. However they were well able to enjoy the trappings of civilised society won through their military gains. They also had a tremendous impact on the Roman military system, as 80 years after the Hun defeat at the battle of Chalons, the Roman cavalryman was armed with the composite bow and as skilled as the Hun in hand-to-hand fighting.

Nic Fields expertly surveys the rise of the Huns and the workings of their society and the development of their battle-winning weapons and tactics, from their first attacks on the Goths to the death of the Emperor Justinian, paying particular attention to the great battle of Chalons (June 20, 451) and the mighty rule of Attila.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I think you will be equally impressed by the quality of this edition and should learn a considerable amount about these little-known peoples. It is a book I heartily recommend." -Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com

About the Author

Dr Nic Fields started his career as a biochemist before joining the Royal Marines for seven years. Having left the Navy he went back to University and completed a BA and PhD in Ancient History at the University of Newcastle. He was Assistant Director at the British School of Archaeology, Athens, and is now a lecturer in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. The author lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (November 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846030250
• ISBN-13: 978-1846030253
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.3 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointment, December 31, 2006

By 

zahak "zahak" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Hun: Scourge of God AD 375-565 (Warrior) (Paperback)

Osprey's "The Huns" was quite a disappointment. The biggest flaw was that author Nic Fields failed to integrate any of the recent scholarship on the subject for this book. There has been a flood of archeological and physical anthropological research from Eastern European scholars regarding the Huns and the Pannonian/Hungarian plain in the last 30 years. Much has been translated into English and is available at most decent research libraries. Fields, also, fails to incorporate more recent Western scholarly materials, such as the works of Denis Sinor or Peter Golden. Based mostly on classical sources, Fields's work reads as if written by a 1920's British armchair historian. This was a huge lost opportunity for Osprey as a follow up to David Nicolle's tremendous if overly ambitious (tracing a thousand years of steppe cultures), Attila and the Nomad Hordes.

Another disappointment was the illustrations. Fields lards the book with illustrations and photos from the Renaissance, the European Romantic period, a Verdi opera, and from the cinema (including a photo of Anthony Quinn playing Attila.) While these may be interesting in a contemporary cultural context, they add absolutely nothing to a portrayal of the Hunnic culture. Fields, also, includes the ubiquitous photos of Greek artisan representations of Scythians on golden bowls, which pre-date Attila by about 700 years and armor from the Chinese Qianlong Emperor c. 1750 C.E., i.e. 1400 years after the Hun era! They are so askew chronologically that it's hard not to look at these inclusions as less than energetic scholarship. If he had emphasized more recent source material he would have found far more engaging images. There are some chronologically appropriate photos included: a skull displaying "Hunnic" cranial deformation, an Alemanni spangenhelm from the period, and Hunnic/Gothic jewelry. These are germane and powerful photographs. It is unfortunate that there aren't more photos as relevant as this in the book.

The final straw is the color plates, usually the high point of Osprey books. Christa Hook's illustrations are poorly drawn and ugly. She has done fine work for Osprey in the past. Her work on "Saracen Faris," "Knights of Outremer," "Norman Knight," "Late Roman Cavalry"," and other works are more than competent. But here, the work appears rushed. Her representations of Hun warriors are rough and grotesque. Moreover, there are only 6 color plates in the book. The other Osprey Warrior series books that I've seen have at least 10-12 color plates.

This work appears that it was done on the quick and cheap.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I agree with the previous review, February 2, 2007

By 

Maciej "Darth Maciek" (Darth Maciek is out there...) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hun: Scourge of God AD 375-565 (Warrior) (Paperback)

Contrary to most of the Osprey books (I have more than three hundred them now, after 20 years of collecting) this is a poor quality thing. The text is at the very best average, the color plates are just HORRIBLE!!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Bland Telling of an Exciting Moment in History, February 19, 2007

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Hun: Scourge of God AD 375-565 (Warrior) (Paperback)

The impact of the Huns in history is staggering, given their impact on pushing the declining Roman Empire over the edge. Hun warriors themselves are intriguing, since these steppe cavalrymen were able to best most contemporary armies. Realizing that historical records on the Huns are very limited, writing a military history of the Huns is a difficult but not impossible task. Unfortunately, Osprey's Warrior #111 on the Huns comes up far short of what readers will expect.

The Hun: Scourge of God has the usual Warrior series sections on dress, equipment, weapons, horses and on campaign. The six color plates - usually the highlight of Osprey volumes - are awful. The best parts of the volume are the 17 pages on Hun society (which are adequate, but little more) and the 6 pages on campaign. However, I thought the 16 pages spent on the Hun's composite bow would never end. There simply was not enough meat and potatoes in this volume on tactics and would made the Huns such fearsome warriors.