Customer Reviews

Imperial Chinese Armies (2) 590-1260 AD (Men-At-Arms, No 295)

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

 

 

Firstly, I would ask the reader to pay no heed to the previous review that only gave this title two stars. This text is highly informative, readably covering the armies of Imperial China from Yang Chien's reunification of China to Kubilai Khan's final campaign against the Sung. The history of the Army is broken down by dynasty; each section examining the history, leaders, and weaponry of the dynastic armies. Military science (including siegecraft and artillery), military thought, and nine important battles are lastly dealt with. The battles section is particularly useful, as the author used specific campaigns to illustrate his points throughout the book.

Like Christa Hook (one of my favorite Osprey artists), Michael Perry's artwork is often bashed on Amazon reviews. I never saw any of his work until I bought this book, but was not remotely disappointed. Though he may be no Angus McBride (but then again, who is?), his artwork is colorful and detailed; his individual subjects have realistic facial expressions, and the armor and clothing details are excellent. Plate 'F', showing a brave northern Sung light swordsman clashing with a cavalryman, is my favorite.

In short, this is another good title by Osprey Publishing on the armies of ancient/medieval China, and is a great source textually and visually for the historian or wargamer.

Imperial Chinese Armies 2 covers a significant time period in the history of warfare. It was during this time frame that gunpowder was invented and the Mongols became an empire. Beginning with the short-lived but important Sui dynasty the author then moves through the T'ang and Song periods. Also discussed are smaller but never-the-less important dynasties such as the Hsia in Northwest China which boasted a formidable military before being swept away during two Mongol invasions. For someone who is not an expert in Chinese (and I am certainly not) Osprey has provided readers with a concise but highly informative volume dealing with land and naval forces/warfare in medieval China. The book is enhanced by maps, colored artwork illustrating warriors from various dynaties, and a section near the end briefly highlighting individual important battles such as An Lu Shan's victory over the T'ang at the Tung Pass.

The Men-at-arms Series covers ancient and classical China in five books, all by Chris Peers who is very familiar with the subject. This is the third book in this series. The chapters: Chronology -- The Sui dynasty -- The T'ang -- Sui and T'ang armies -- The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms -- The Sung dynasty -- Sung armies -- The Liao -- The Hsi Hsia -- The Kin dynasty -- Military science and technology -- Nine important battles. The text focuses on telling Chinas military history; it is very weak on topics like weapons or battle tactics. The drawings by Michael Perry are ok. The maps are primitive and not very useful. This book is the sequel to "Imperial Chinese Armies 200BC - 589AD" (MAA284). The next book in the series is "Medieval Chinese Armies 1260 - 1520" (MAA 251).