Customer Reviews

Scottish Arms and Armour (Shire Collections)

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

 

 

Being interested in medieval weaponry and tactics, I was excited when I recently purchased this book at Edinburgh Castle (not from Amazon). Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with the book. The author does a very poor job of sourcing his statements, many of which would fall under the category of "sweeping generalizations". He makes blanket comments about a period, a type of weapon, or a tactic, without explaining in any kind of detail about why he is making such a generalization. You're left to presume that he's such an expert on the topic (which may or may not be true) that you should take his word as gospel, without any responsibility to explain WHY he's saying something.

In addition, he jumps around through the centuries. Much of his "Medieval Arms" section is based upon weapons and battles that occurred during the 16th Century--hardly what most people would consider to be "medieval", even in the Scottish highlands. Worse, the author will refer to an event from the 1550's and, in the next sentence, refer to a weapon or event from the 1330's, leading one to presume that there was no advancement in weaponry from the mid-14th to mid-16th century. This, of course, is patently false. The book would have been far better if the author had covered the periods in something approaching a chronological fashion. After all, you wouldn't talk about the dress and manners of James VI as if they were the same as Robert the Bruce; they weren't.

So you may ask why I still give the book three stars? Couple of reasons:

1) Based upon his body of works, I presume that the author is an expert in the field and really does know what he's talking about (which may be a wrong assumption, but I don't think so). He presents just enough sourcing to suggest that he's not just an amateur.

2) The artwork (photos and illustrations) in the book are excellent. Even if the text is barely above the level of an Osprey publication, the graphical content is top notch and worth the cost of the book.

Bottom line: an average book that could have been so much more.

Well written and thoroughly researched and investigated. Excellent for advanced Scottish arms collectors to add to their knowledge base. Not the first book a novice collector should buy but well worth the money.