Customer Reviews

Medieval European Armies 1300-1500 (Men at Arms Series, 50)

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The Osprey Men-at-Arms series has been around for quite some time. As you can tell by looking at the number on this one (50), this was one of the early efforts. It really shows.

First of all, it should be noted that is book covers the era 1300-1500 AD (approx.), so the earlier Middle Ages are ignored entirely. It also relies heavily on Victorian era illustrations (not for their central colour section, though) for many of the pictures -- this is very sad as most of these illustrations are woefully inaccurate. The central colour illustrations are of a much higher caliber, but not up to the current standards of the series.

The information falls into the "good enough" category. It's not that the information is dreadfully wrong, it is just that it is woefully generalized and, by current academic standards, rather antiquated. The series as a whole has done a fine job of late by focusing on smaller time periods and specific nations (thus French Medieval Armies, 1000-1300, as an example) which far supercede this volume.

If you are only going to have one volume on medieval arms and armour, you could do worse than this book. Then again, you might just want to set your standards a tech higher...

I'd have to agree with Mr. MacDonald's review. Originally written in 1975, this book is showing its age. The scope is too broad. There is some good basic information here, but the illustrations are abysmal. The interested reader would do well to investigate the other Osprey titles on this period. They are more focussed and therefore of more usefulness. The most egregious error repeated in this book is the mythical prowess given to the longbow. More recent research has debunked this commonly held belief.