Customer Reviews

A Knight and His Horse

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Oakeshott's book is meant as a general introductory to the topic of a knight and his horse for children, not an exhaustive study of the subject for those with a higher level interest in the topic.

I found the lack of footnotes and the minimal bibliography to be the major disappointment of this work. There are tidbits of info within that might send one on a more indepth study, but it would not be my first choice on the subject. There are more high level materials out there on knights, but only a scant few on the medieval(very broad term) horse. Here are some in my collection:

"The Medieval Horse and its Equipment, c.1150-1450 (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London)" by John Clark (Editor). Wonderful book. This is a reprint. I have an older one and am given to understand that there may be some updated material in this latest edition.

"The Medieval Warhorse: Origin, Development and Redevelopment"
by R.H.C. Davis. A good general info book and a relatively quick read.

"Horse Breeding in the Medieval World" by Charles Gladitz

Anne Hyland has written several. I suggest glancing at them at the local B&N or Borders and choose. I think the books put far too much stock on the East, but that's my bias. ;)

Good reading!

Ewart Oakeshott has produced some simple yet elegant books on the Medieval Knights and their armaments. This little book (123 pages) is a continuation of Mr. Oakenshott's work. Previous to this, his books covered Castles, Weapons and Battles. The original edition was published in 1962.

Mr. Oakeshott is the founder of the Oakeshott Institute, which promotes research and education in the field of ancient arms and armament. You can find them on line at http://www.oakeshott.org/.

This book covers the knights horse, and does it with illustrations and easy to read formatting. The illustrations are provided by Mr. Oakeshott, and are nice pen and ink drawings which illustrate some of the equipment found on the horse or used with the horse by a knight. There are also illustrations of knights on their horses from various time periods that are very nicely executed.

The content is very easy to read, and appears to be geared to the younger reader in my opinion. There is discussion of horses used in warfare, types of horses used, methods of fighting using horses and more.

The material is delivered in a narrative style, as opposed to textbook style, again making this appealing to the younger reader. Mr. Oakeshott tells the story of the knight's horse with an almost romantic edge, keeping the readers attention with material that can get boring if you are not specifically interested in this.

Topics cover horse equipment, various styles of bridals, saddles, armor and different styles according to various periods. There are also discussions on behavior of the knights themselves, how armor identified knights and customs. There is discussion on the changes in battle tactics and how horses changed battle strategies. Discussion on Tournaments is also covered in depth, with attention to Chivalrous Codes, ladies on horses and more. Again, very well presented, it holds one's attention, and is easy to read.

There are appendices, covering Monetary Values; the buying power of money at various times in respect to armor costs, the actual weight of armor and a short bibliography. There is a list of periodicals of which, when this revised version came out in 1998, were around then but I don't know if they still are. There is, however, an exceptional glossary of terms and places which I thought was well thought out and put together. And there is an index for easy reference.

This book, by itself, will not provide enough material to do a term paper on either the Crusades or Medieval History. However, to provide additional material for a report or to add to the content of a paper on medieval culture and life, this would be a very good choice. Much of the material in this book comes from the authors own experiences in handling Medieval armor and armaments. I am also sure the website will provide a little additional information as well. The site is more concerned with swords, but there is some information available.

While not overly produced, this book does provide some good information on the medieval knight and the importance of his horse. The discussions on horses and horse equipment will make some fine additions to any school report or class discussion. The size of the book and the style of writing assure the younger reader will not get bored too quickly. However, as a book for reference for the older student, this book may not hold the same appeal. A nice presentation overall. medievalcrusadesbabe

A good general history of knights and horses. Not detailed enough for me personnally and a few points that I have to question as even being possible.