Medieval WarfareBook Reviews

Non-Western, Reference, and Technology

Reviews are grouped by category and come from various sources.

• indicates a book reviewed specifically for DeReMilitari. De Re Militari generously thanks the publishers who have generously provided us with copies of their books for review.
• indicates a book reviewed in the H-Net book review lists. The H-Net network has numerous subject-specific mailing lists and publishes hundreds of reviews each year.
• indicated reviews from The Medieval Review. Since 1993, The Medieval Review (TMR; formerly the Bryn Mawr Medieval Review) has been publishing reviews of current work in all areas of Medieval Studies, a field it interprets as broadly as possible.  Here are some of their reviews dealing with medieval military history.
• are reviews found through FindArticles.com

Eastern & Non-European

• D.S. Richards (trans.), The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for The Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh, part 2, the years 541-589/1146-1193: The Age of Nur al-Din and Saladin (Ashgate, 2007), 450pp. -- Reviewed by Don Kagay.
• D. Nicolle, J. Haldon, and S. Turnbull, The Fall of Constantinople: The Ottoman Conquest of Byzantium(Osprey, 2007), 256pp. -- Reviewed by John Miglletta.
• Timothy May, The Mongol Art of War (Pen & Sword, 2007), xiii+214pp. -- Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali.
• D.S. Richards, The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for The Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh, part 1, the years 491-541/1097-1146: The Coming of the Franks and the Muslim Response, (Ashgate, 2006), 408pp. -- reviewed by Timothy May.
• Robert G. Hoyland and Brian Gilmour, Medieval Islamic Swords and Swordmaking: Kindi's treatise 'On swords and their kinds' (Gibb Memorial Trust, 2006), viii+216pp. -- Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali.
• Geoffrey Hindley, Saladin: Hero of Islam (1976; rpt. Pen & Sword, 2007), 209pp. -- Reviewed by Lee Ruddin.
• Alberto Montaner Frutos and Alfonso Boix Jovaní, Guerra en Sarq Al'andalus: Las batallas cidianas de Morella (1084) y Cuarte (1094) (Zaragoza, 2005), 342pp. -- Reviewed by Don Kagay
• H.N. Kennedy (ed.), Muslim Military Architecture in Greater Syria (Brill, 2005) -- Reviewed by Timothy May.
• Barton C. Hacker, World Military History Bibliography: Premodern and Nonwestern Military Institutions and Warfare: Premodern and Nonwestern Military Institutions (Works Published before 1967), revised edition - History of Warfare 27 (Brill, 2004), x+310pp. and CD-Rom Version [combined review] -- to be reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali. (see aslo the earlier version here)
• Jennifer Lawler, Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire (McFarland, 2004), 366pp. -- Reviewed by Timothy May
• Paul Stephenson, The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer (Cambridge, 2003), 164pp. -- Reviewed by Timothy May
• From Crécy to Mohács: Warfare in the Late Middle Ages (1346-1526) ACTA, 22nd Congress of the International Commission for Military History (Vienna: Heersgeeschichte Museum, 1997), 408pp. [contributions in English, German, French, and Spanish] -- Reviewed by Brian D.H. Ditcham
• Igor De Rachewiltz (ed.), The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century, Inner Asian Library vol.7 (Brill, 2004) -- Reviewed by Timothy May
• Walter E. Kaegi, Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium (Cambridge, 2002) -- Reviewed by Richard Cornwell
• Linda S. Northrup, From Slave to Sultan: The Career of al-Mansur Qualawun and the Consolidation of Mamluk Rule in Egypt and Syria (678-689 AH / 1279-1290AD) (Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag, 1998) [Mamluk Studies Review]
• Yaacov Lev (ed.), War and Society in the Eastern Mediterranean, 7th-15th Centuries (Leiden: Brill, 1997) [Mamluk Studies Review]
• Shai Har-El (ed.), Struggle for Domination on the Middle East: The Ottoman-Mamluk War, 1485-1491 (Leiden: Brill, 1995) [Mamluk Studies Review]
• Reuven Amitai-Preiss (ed.), Mongols and Mamluks: the Mongol-Ilkhanid War, 1260-1281 (Leiden: Brill, 1995) [Mamluk Studies Review]
• The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition, by Christopher Walter -- Reviewed by Timothy Dawson
• The Military and Society in Russia, 1450 - 1917, edited by Eric Lohr and Marhall Poe -- Reviewed by Philip Kaveny
• World Military History Bibliography: Premodern and Nonwestern Military Institutions and Warfare, by Barton C. Hacker -- Reviewed by William J. Hamblin
• The Byzantine Wars: Battles and Campaign of the Byzantine Era, by John F. Haldon -- Reviewed by Richard Cornwell
• The Development of the Komnenian Army: 1081-1180, by John W. Birkenmeier -- Reviewed by Walter Kaegi
• The Development of the Komnenian Army: 1081-1180, by John W. Birkenmeier -- Reviewed Almyr L. Bump (Journal of Military History)
• The Contest for the Legacy of Kievan Rus', by Jaroslaw Pelenski -- Reviewed by Charles J. Halperin
• Hungary in the Thirteenth Century, by Z. J. Kosztolnyik -- Reviewed by Martyn Rady (English Historical Review)
• Byzantium and its Army, 284-1081, by Warren Treadgold, and Sowing the Dragon's Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century, by Eric McGreer - boh reviewed by Peter Sarris (English Historical Review)
• The Byzantine Wars: Battles and Campaigns of the Byzantine Era, by John Haldon -- Reviewed by Jonathan Shepard (English Historical Review)
• Grenzüberschreitungen. Formen des Kontakts zwischen Orient und Okzident im Altertum, ed. by Monika Schuol, Udo Hartmann, and Andreas Luther -- Reviewed by Marek J. Olbrycht
• War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, and Mesoamerica, edited by Kurt Raaflaub and Nathan Rosenstein -- Reviewed by Everett L. Wheeler ( The Historian)

Reference and Collected Works

• Agnès Blandeau, Pasolini, Chaucer and Boccacio: Two medieval texts and their translations to film (McFarland, 2006), viii+210 pp -- Reviewed by Victoria Bandt.
• Malte Prietzel, Krieg in Mittelalter (Primus Verlag, 2006), 208pp + 90 color pictures and maps. -- Reviewed by Brian Ditcham.
• John France (ed.), Medieval Warfare 1000-1300, International Library of Essays on Military History series (Ashgate, 2006) - to be reviewed by Don Kagay.
• Niall Christie and Maya Yazigi (eds.), Noble Ideals and Bloody Realities: Warfare in the Middle Ages, History of Warfare 37 (Brill, 2006), xx+272 pp. -- Reviewed by Brian Ditcham.
• Barton C. Hacker, World Military History Bibliography: Premodern and Nonwestern Military Institutions and Warfare: Premodern and Nonwestern Military Institutions (Works Published before 1967), revised edition - History of Warfare 27 (Brill, 2004), x+310pp. and CD-Rom Version [combined review] -- to be reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali. (see aslo the earlier version here)
• Corine Saunders, Françoise Le Saux, and Neil Thomas (eds.), Writing War: Medieval Responses to Warfare (Boydell, 2004), ix+235pp -- Reviewed by Craig Taylor
• Justin E. Griffin, The Grail Procession: The Legend, the Artifacts, and the Possible Sources of the Story (McFarland, 2004), ix+188pp. -- Reviewed by John D. Hosler
• Catherine Hanley, War and Combat 1150-1270: The Evidence from Old French Literature (Brewer, 2003) -- Reviewed by Steve Muhlberger
• Those Who Fought (An Anthology of Medieval Sources), edited by Peter Speed -- Reviewed by Peter Burkholder
• Cumulative Bibliography of Medieval Military History and Technology, by Kelly DeVries -- Reviewed by Walter Kaegi
• World Military History Bibliography: Premodern and Nonwestern Military Institutions and Warfare, by Barton C. Hacker -- Reviewed by William J. Hamblin
• Medieval Warfare. A Bibliographical Guide, by Everett U. Crosby -  reviewed by John France
• Medieval Warfare: A History, edited by Maurice Keen -- Reviewed by A. A. Nofi (StrategyPage.com)
• The Making of Europe. Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change, 950-1350, by Robert Bartlett -- Reviewed by José Manuel Rodríguez García
• Religion and the Conduct of War, c. 300- c. 1215 , by David Bachrach -- Reviewed by Don Kagy
• Medieval Mercenaries, Volume 1: The Great Companies, by Kenneth Fowler -- Reviewed by Brian Ditcham
• Medieval Frontiers: Concepts and Practices, edited by David Abulafia and Nora Berend -- Reviewed by Naomi Standen
• Echoes of War: A Thousand Years of Military History in Popular Culture, by Michael C.C. Adams -- Reviewed by Michelle Llyn Ferry (The History Teacher)
• Visions of War: Picturing Warfare from the Stone Age to the Cyber Age, by David D. Perlmutter -- Reviewed by Lee T. Wyatt III (Journal of World History)
• War and Competition between States, ed. by Phillippe Contamine -- Reviewed by mark Charles Fissel (The History Teacher)
• The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050, ed. by MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray -- Reviewed by James Jay Carafano
• The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry, translated by Sumner Willard and edited by Charity Cannon Willard -- Reviewed by Nadia Margolis
• The Circle of War in the Middle Ages, edited by Donald Kagay and Andrew Villalon -- Reviewed by Michael Prestwich
• The Circle of War in the Middle Ages, edited by Donald J. Kagan and L. J. Andrew Villalon -- Reviewed by Sean McGlynn (English Historical Review)
• The Art of Warfare in Western Europe During the Middle Ages from the Eighth Century to 1340, 2nd Edition, by J. F. Verbruggen, translated by Summer Williard and Mrs. R. W. Southern -- Reviewed by Bernard Bachrach (The Historian)
• The Military Orders, by Alan Forey -- Reviewed by José Manuel Rodríguez García
• The Medieval Military Revolution: State, Society and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, edited by Andrew Ayton and J. L. Price -- Reviewed by Kelly DeVries (The Historian)
• Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe, by Richard W. Kaeuper - by Sean McGlynn (English Historical Review)
• Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe, by Richard W. Kaeuper -reviewed by Thomas F. Madden (The Historian)
• Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe, by Richard Kaeuper -- Reviewed by Steven Isaac
• Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: The Middle Ages 768-1487, by Nicholas Hooper and Matthew Bennett -- Reviewed by Kelly DeVries
• Crusading and Warfare in Medieval and Renaissance Europe by Norman Housley -- Reviewed by David Hay

Technology

Castles and Sieges

• Christopher Gravett, The Castles of Edward I in Wales 1277-1307, Fortress 64 (Osprey, 2007), 64pp. -- Reviewed by Victora Bandt.
• Angus Konstam with Peter Bull (illus.), The Forts of Celtic Britain, Fortress 50 (Osprey 2006) -- Reviewed by Sergio Mantovani.
• David Nicolle, Crusader Castles in Cyprus, Greece and the Aegean 1191-1571, Fortress 59 (Osprey, 2007), 64pp. -- Reviewed by Sergio Mantovani.
• Jean-Denis G.G. Lepage, The Fortifications of Paris (McFarland, 2006), 264pp. -- Reviewed by Lt. Cmdr. Mark Condero
• Konstantin S. Nossov with Brian Delf (illus.), Indian Castles 1206–1526: The Rise and Fall of the Delhi Sultanate, Fortress 51 (Osprey, 2006) -- to be reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali.
• H.N. Kennedy (ed.), Muslim Military Architecture in Greater Syria (Brill, 2005) -- Reviewed by Timothy May.
• Christopher Gravett, Norman Stone Castles (2) Europe 950–1204, Fortress 18 (Osprey, 2004), 64 pp. -- Reviewed by John D. Hosler
• Peter Harrison, Castles of God: Fortified Religious Buildings of the World (Boydell, 2004), 304pp. -- Reviewed by Oliver Creighton
• David Nicolle, Crusader Castles in the Holy Land, 1097-1192 (Osprey, 2004), 64pp. -- Reviewed by Timothy May
• Castles in Medieval Society. Fortresses in England, France and Ireland in the Central Middle Ages, by Charles Coulson, -- Reviewed by Andy King
• The Medieval City under Siege, ed. by Ivy A. Corfis and Michael Wolfe -- Reviewed by Jose Manuel Rodriguez Garcia
• Castles and Fortified Cities of Medieval Europe: An Illustrated History, by Jean-Denis G.G. Lepage -- Reviewed by Steven A. Walton
• Crusader Castles, by Hugh Kennedy -- Reviewed by Christopher Tyerman (English Historical Review)
• Unknown Crusader Castles, by Kristian Molin -- Reviewed by Malcolm Barber (English Historical Review)
• Crusaders, Condottieri, and Cannon: Medieval Warfare in Societies Around the Mediterranean, edited by L.J. Andrew Villalon and Donald J. Kagay -- Reviewed by Niall Christie
• Proteggere e dominare: fortificazioni e popolamento nell'Italia medievale, by Aldo A. Sattia -- Reviewed by Michael Mallett (English Historical Review)

Weapons & Armour (incl. Gunpowder)

• Robert G. Hoyland and Brian Gilmour, Medieval Islamic Swords and Swordmaking: Kindi's treatise 'On swords and their kinds' (Gibb Memorial Trust, 2006), viii+216pp. -- Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali.
• Charles Ffoulkes, Armour and Weapons (1909; Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2005), 112pp. -- Reviewed by Michael Basista.
• Journal of the Armour Research Soceity, vol. 1 (2005) -- Reviewed by Steven Walton.
• Robert Douglas Smith and Kelly DeVries, The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy 1363-1477 (Brill, 2005), 377pp. -- Reviewed by Pete Burkholder.
• John Waldman, Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: The Evolution of European Staff Weapons between 1200 and 1650, History of Warfare 31 (Brill, 2005), xxvi+242 pp. -- Reviewed by Mark Charles Fissel.
• Kenneth Chase, Firearms: A Global History to 1700 (Cambridge, 2003), xvii+290pp -- Reviewed by David Sobek
• Hugh D. H. Soar, The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow (Yardley, PA: Westholm, 2004), 224pp. -- Reviewed by David J. B. Trim.
• J. Kim Siddorn, Viking Weapons and Warfare (Tempus, 2000) -- Reviewed by Amanda Spencer
• Stephen Hand (ed.), SPADA: An Anthology of Swordsmanship in Memory of Ewart Oakeshott (Chivalry Bookshelf, 2002) 175pp. -- Reviewed by Michael Basista
• Jousts and Tournaments: Charny and the Rules for Chivalric Sport in Fourteenth-Century France , by Steven Muhlberger -- Reviewed by Andy King
• The Knight and the Blast Furnace: A History of Metallury of Armour in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, by Alan Williams -- Reviewed by Robert D. Smith
• The Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi: 15^th Century Swordsmanship of Master Filippo Vardi, translated by Luca Porzio and Gregory Mele -- Reviewed by Holger Berwinke
• Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe, by Bert S. Hall -- Reviewed by Randall Storey
• Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe, by Bert S. Hall -- Reviewed by Louis Hass (The Historian)
• Swords of the Viking Age, by Ian Peirce -- Reviewed by Paul Mortimer
• Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century: Discipline, Tactics, and Technology, by Kelly DeVries -- Reviewed by Sean Mcglynn (English Historical Review)
• Warriors and their Weapons around the Time of the Crusades, by David Nicolle -- Reviewed by Jonathan Harris
• The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry, translated by Sumner Willard and edited by Charity Cannon Willard -- Reviewed by Nadia Margolis
• The Medieval Warhorse from Byzantium to the Crusades, by Ann Hyland -- Reviewed by Walter E. Kaegi (The Historian)

Naval

• Simon Coupland, Carolingian Coinage and the Vikings: Studies on Power and Trade in the 9th Century (Ashgate, 2007), 336pp -- Reviewed by Stephen McCauley.
• D.J.B.Trim and M.C.Fissel (eds.), Amphibious Warfare 1000-1700 (Brill, 2005) ISBN: 9004132449 €135$182 -- Reviewed by Jose Manuel Rodriguez.
• Louis Sicking, Neptune and the Netherlands: State, Economy, and War at Sea in the Renaissance, History of Warfare 23 (Brill, 2006), xxxi+531pp. -- Reviewed by Mark Charles Fissel.
• Lawrence V. Mott, Sea Power in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Catalan-Aragonese Fleet in the War of the Sicilian Vespers, New Perspectives on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology (University Press of Florida, 2003), 352pp. -- Reviewed by Don Kagay.
• War at Sea in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, edited by John B. Hattendorf and Richard W. Unger -- Reviewed by Susan Rose Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse, by Judith Jesch -- Reviewed by Susan Rose
• Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse, by Judith Jesch -- Reviewed by Margaret Clunies Ross
• Medieval Naval Warfare, by Susan Rose -- Reviewed by John France  
• Medieval Naval Warfare: 1000-1500, by Susan Rose -- Reviewed by Richard Gorski ( English Historical Review)
• Medieval Naval Warfare: 1000-1500, by Susan Rose -- Reviewed by Timothy Runyan (Journal of Military History)

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We welcome books on all aspects of military history and science from late Roman to Early Modern (c.400-1648).

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