Between AD 161 and 244 the Roman legions were involved in wars and battles on a scale not seen since the late Republic. Legions were destroyed in battle, disbanded for mutiny and rebellion and formed to wage wars of conquest and defence. This volume explores the experience of the imperial legionary, concentrating on Legio II Parthica. Raised by ...
The very name El Cid sums up much of the special character of medieval Spanish warfare. It comes from the Arabic al sayyid, master or chieftain, and seems to have been given to Rodrigo de Vivar by his Muslim foes. But was it given in recognition of El Cid's victories against Islam in the 'Reconquista' - or because this Castilian nobleman was as ...
Salah al Din Yusif ibn Ayyub, known to his Muslim contemporaries as al Nasi, 'The Victorious', and to an admiring Europe as Saladin, is the most famous single figure in the history of the Crusades, being even better known outside the English-speaking world than his Christian foe Richard the Lionheart. Traditionally portrayed as a quiet, deeply ...
The Sassanians ruled the last great imperial Empire of Persia before the Arab conquests of the 7th century. Rome's only equal in the classical world, the Sassanian Empire had an enormous impact on the development of architecture, mythology, arts, music, military tactics and technology. Within the Sassanian military, the cavalry was the most ...
The timeless appeal of Homer's epic poem of the ancient Trojan War, The Illiad, has meant an enduring interest in the Mycenaen age. Modern scholarship and new archaeological evidence now allows us to reconstruct with reasonable confidence the appearance of the great warrior civilization, which dominated much of the eastern Mediterranean between ...
War played a central part in the history of Japan. Warring clans controlled much of the country. The wars were usually about land, the struggle for control of which eventually gave rise to perhaps the most formidable warriors of all time: the Samurai. Ancient Yayoi warriors developed weapons, armour and a code during the ensuing centuries that ...
A history of Byzantine armies from the height of the Crusades through to the wars against the rising power of the Ottoman Turks, covering the siege of Constantinople and the fall of Trebizond.
This text by Terence Wise explores some of the fascinating peoples who comprised the ancient armies of the Middle East: the Sumerians, who were the first to introduce the use of bronze into warfare, and were centuries ahead of the Egyptians in the use of the wheel - The Akkadians, whose citizen army was composed almost entirely of light troops - ...
The cradle of western civilisation, the ancient Greek world, consisted of a series of independent city states some of which, such as Athens and Sparta, became major world powers. This authoritative volume by Nicholas Sekunda covers Greek warfare in the Classical Period, which stretches from the Greek victories over the Persian Empire to the death ...
This period saw profound changes, as Scandinavia became greatly influenced by military events and developments elsewhere in Europe. Most noticeably, plate armour began to take over from mail; and important evidence is provided by the remarkable 14th century battle grave finds at Wisby, where many corpses were tipped rapidly into mass graves still ...
During the Middle Ages siege warfare played a vital role in military strategy. Sieges were far more numerous than pitched battles, ranging from small-scale affairs against palisaded earthworks to full-scale assaults on vast strongholds. Needless to say, the art of siege warfare assumed a unique importance to both invader and defender alike. In ...
This is an account of one of the most dramatic episodes in 19th century military history, which continues to exert a unique fascination. On 22nd January 1879 the British military camp at Isandlwana, South Africa, was annihilated by about 20,000 Zulu warriors. Some 1200 troops died under the Zulu spears, half of them British regular infantry of the ...
In 390 BC a Gallic army marched on Rome. A confident Roman army of about 15,000 men sent to bar the way was destroyed. Three days after the battle the Gauls entered Rome, much of which they burnt, and demanded a huge bounty of gold to leave the city. During the weighing procedure, Brennus, the Gallic leader, is said to have thrown his sword on to ...
Perhaps the greatest warriors in history, the Samurai were a product of a social system totally geared to war. The Samurai became expert in fighting both on horseback and on the ground. Their way of life was dictated by the code of Bushido or 'way of the warrior' and clad in their magnificent, multi-coloured armour they were perfectly suited to ...
This volume covers medieval Russian armies from the foundation of Kiev by the pagan Rus', through the many internecine and external wars, the rise of the Novgorod Empire, to the incursions of the Mongols and the many battles of Prince Alexander Nevski.
Britain's leading historian of Samurai warfare describes, explains and illustrates the strikingly colourful heraldry of the great warring families and their feudal armies in medieval Japan. Illustrated with many identified examples, this title traces the story from the earliest display of family mon in the eighth century and the simple hata ...
The Parthians were a warrior people. Though possessing no regular army they were superb horsemen and archers, and in time of war the nobility provided heavily armoured knights mounted on weight-carrying chargers. At Carrhae, it is believed that 20,000 Roman troops out of a force of about 36,000 died at the hands of the Parthians. In the third of ...
As the Viking Age gave way to the Middle Ages the development of Scandinavian armies showed special local characteristics, due both to the rough terrain and the relatively 'egalitarian' nature of society. Though Denmark's proximity to Germany led to the appearance there of a kind of feudal system and some heavy armoured cavalry, in Sweden and ...
The succession of the French Duke of Anjou to the Spanish throne in 1700 provoked the formation of a Grand Alliance to thwart the king's expansionist ambitions. Led by the Duke of Marlborough, the army of the Grand Alliance declared war on France. Between 1702 and 1711, this united force, comprised of English, Dutch, Danish, Prussian, Austrian and ...
For over a hundred years British and Indian troops were engaged on the North-West Frontier of India policing the tribes, mounting expeditions, and guarding against the ever-present threat from Russia. Populated mainly by Pathans, one of the fiercest warrior races on earth, the Frontier came to be known as 'The Grim' by generations of British ...
In 1415, the judicial murder of the religious reformer Jan Hus sparked a major uprising in Bohemia. His death led within a few years to the 'Hussite' revolution against the monarchy, the German aristocracy and the Church establishment. For two decades the largely peasant Hussite armies successfully defied a series of international 'crusades'; they ...
The Ottoman army was arguably the most colourful of all the military forces to take the field in the Napoleonic wars. This period was one of transition as the Ottoman empire struggled to come to terms with the upheavals caused by war to modernise her military forces in the face of threats from France, Britain and Russia. Covering the period ...
The Indian divisions made a huge contribution to the British war effort in both World Wars, fighting in the trenches of the Western Front and in the Middle East in 1914-18, and in North Africa, Italy and Burma in 1939-45. This detailed text describes the developing organisation, uniforms and equipment of the Imperial and other regiments during the ...
Wielding their swords in the name of their faith, the crusaders originally set out to reclaim Jerusalem and its surrounding territory in the Middle East. Increasingly, however, Eastern Europe and the last remaining bastions of pagan Europe became the targets of their religious zeal. The subsequent Scandinavian campaigns laid the foundations of ...
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