Medieval Russian Armies 1250 - 1500 (Men-At-Arms) [Paperback]

David Nicolle (Author), Angus McBride (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Men-at-Arms | Publication Date: May 25, 2002

After disastrous defeats at the hands of the Mongols in the 13th century, the Russian principalities became vassals of the Khans of the Golden Horde for more than 200 years; and at the same time the western princes faced the German crusaders of the Teutonic Order. Remarkably, Russia responded with a new surge of military vigour. Eventually, freedom from the 'Mongol yoke' coincided with a degree of unity around a powerful new state - Muscovy. This exciting chapter of history is illustrated with rare early paintings, photos, diagrams, and eight plates reconstructing the mixed influences of East and West in the appearance of Russian warriors.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Packed with specially commissioned artwork, maps and diagrams, the Men-at-Arms series is an unrivalled illustrated reference on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the world's military forces, past and present.

About the Author

Dr David Nicolle was born in 1944 and worked for the BBC before returning to university, obtaining his PhD in Edinburgh. He subsequently taught at Yarmouk University in Jordan, since which he has contributed a substantial number of Osprey titles. He is a specialist in medieval arms and armour and has written several hardback books as well as numerous articles for specialist journals. He has also presented papers at many international conferences.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (May 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841762342
• ISBN-13: 978-1841762340
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.1 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best in east and west, May 28, 2004

By 

João Paulo Vieira (Porto, Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medieval Russian Armies 1250 - 1500 (Men-At-Arms) (Paperback)

A very interesting book: the text is well written and the colour plates are superb.
I must confess that I'm a big fan of David Nicolle and Angus McBride: they combine in their work two of my greatest passions: military history and illustration.
As such my opinion can be biased but I will try to be as impartial as possible.
This book is one of my favourite and I will try to tell why.
After a century by century general description of warfare in Russia (from the 13th to the 15th century) we are presented with chapters about arms and armour, and fortresses and siege warfare and, finally, a chapter about the introduction of firearms in Russian warfare.
The text must be understood as an introduction to the subject and as such it fulfils all the expectations; it gives a general, although not simplistic, view about the subject: the text is full of details.
The stile of writing of David Nicolle is, at the same time, academic and enjoyable to read.
My favourite chapters were the ones dealing with arms and armour that were full of interesting facts; it accomplish in giving the reader a very interesting view about the unique shape and use of weapons in medieval Russia, combining the best there were in both west and east.
The colour plates by Angus McBride are great, especially three of them: plates C, E and F.
Plate C represents cavalry from 1300 to 1375 and the quality of details and atmosphere makes this illustration a superior work: you can almost feel the anxiety of the Novgorod cavalryman facing the other two warriors.
Plate E (the one presented in the book cover) represents cavalry from 1375 to 1425. In particular I would like to discriminate the figure representing the mounted drummer: it's splendid.
My favourite one, however, is plate F. it represents warriors defending themselves and the atmosphere created by Angus McBride is breath-taking : you can feel the fear, courage and all the adrenaline that those warriors experience; I recommend that you get the book and look at this plate: it deserves the effort.
This book although with not many pages uses them all in providing us with many details about Russian medieval warfare. The colour plates represent the best corollary that the great text could have.
A great book!

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars EXOTIC, ARMS AND ARMOUR OF THE RUS, July 26, 2003

By 

Eduardo J. Tellez A (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Medieval Russian Armies 1250 - 1500 (Men-At-Arms) (Paperback)

Living in Nicaragua in the 80's with the Sandinistas in Power and the influence of the Soviet Union at his best, make me study a lot of the Russian culture and history, one of those part that brought my attention was the Mongol Invasion and their struggle for liberation of the Golden Horde influence, the many problems with their not so nice Christian neighbor and the continues fighting for power between the Medieval Russians.

At last the search for a nice work on the Medieval Russia Armies has come to his end, Mr Nicolle and Viacheslav Shpakovsky have done a EXCELLENT work with the little help of Angus McBride, there is a nice chapter on the Mongol influence of later Russian armies and the use of The guns of Muscovy.

This is the second part of the series the first one dedicated to the almost dark period of Russian History 838-1252 is also another great book to check. I hope in the future we can see more works on the medieval russia, I'm only know about the works publish by Osprey but there most be more specializes work on the subject, it is my opinion the the only weakness of this two work are that did't talk about the Russian heraldry but let hope they make one also nicely illustrated.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The rise of Moscow, March 8, 2009

By 

BernardZ (Melbourne, vic Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medieval Russian Armies 1250 - 1500 (Men-At-Arms) (Paperback)

A fascinating account of the Russian military from their defeats to the Mongols in 1250 to 1500. This was a period when the Russians engaged in a war on two fronts. To the West were the German crusaders and in the East were the Mongols.

During this period, siege warfare became more important. The Russians improved their military both in size and quality. In technology, their equipment kept up with the West. The Russians quickly adopted crossbows and then guns. Slowly the Russians threw off the Mongols and established a state centered on Moscow.