Description

Arms and Armour Press, London [Published date: 1996]. Hardcover, 432 pp; illustrated throughout in black and white with some color plates; 25 cm. Very good in very good dust jacket. Black boards with gold lettering on spine. Light bumping to edges and corners and light overall scuffing. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. Dust jacket has a few small nicks and light creasing along edges. Light overall scuffing and rubbing to jacket as well. Now in an archival quality removable Brodart cover. Not Ex-library. This omnibus edition combines three of Newarks earlier works: Barbarians (1985), Celtic Warriors (1985), and Medieval Warlords (1987). The book offers an introduction to warfare and military leadership from antiquity through the medieval period, with vivid illustrations by Angus McBride. Newark surveys commanders and their armies over a 2000-year span, examining the Huns, Visigoths, Vikings, Celts, and leaders such as Flavius Aetius, Jan Zizka, and Vlad Dracula. Contents include: Barbarians (originally published 1985); Celtic Warriors (originally published 1985); Medieval Warlords (originally published 1987). [From front jacket flap] Enter the world of the warlord! As servant of his king or queen, renegade warrior, regional leader, the military commander of the 2000 years up to the end of the medieval era was a very different being to his modern counterpart. His battlefield may have been slower and his strategies primitive by comparison but his survival instincts drove him to tactical ingenuity, daring gambles and ruthless determination. His codes of loyalty, allegiances and beliefs often stimulated his military action and did nothing to dull his callous use of his foot soldiers as a disposable means to achieve his end. He would perhaps hide this cruelty beneath a charismatic leadership and a legitimate cause which would ensure him of a dependable army. His world seems colourful when viewed from the safety of the late 20th century. Set dominant on his charger in his suit of armour, surging across continents in an all-conquering wave of aggression, or leading rebellion against injustice, the rose-coloured-glass view of history. This volume tells the real story of a tough, battle-ridden world where power came with military might and disappeared with weakness and defeat.