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"The Middle Ages" is a term commonly used to designate that period of European history between the fall of the Roman Empire and about the middle of the fifteenth century. The precise dates of the beginning, culmination, and end of the Middle Ages are more or less arbitrarily assumed according to the point of view adopted.

The period is usually considered to open with those migrations of the German Tribes which led to the destruction of the Roman Empire in the West in 375, when the Huns fell upon the Gothic tribes north of the Black Sea and forced the Visigoths over the boundaries of the Roman Empire on the lower Danube.

As you may have guessed, there are an immense number of books on the middle ages. Here are a few. If you don't find what you're looking for here, click one of them and it will take you to Amazon.com and you can do a search from there. Remember, if you link to Amazon through us and order online, we get a small percentage, at no extra cost to you—this will help keep reenactor.Net online!

You might find book reviews on the following books on their pages at Amazon.com. If you would like to review a book, please submit your review to Amazon.com; if you would like to add a few clarifying words to my descriptions, please email me. In many cases, I took the descriptions for these books right from the Amazon.com pages. Really love or hate a book listed here? Want to add your favorites? Thought of a much better way for me to organize these? Please send suggestions, comments and corrections regarding this Area

Author: Christopher Gravett
Illustrator: Graham Turner
Osprey (Warrior)

The 14th-century knight lived in a century of change, in terms of both recruitment methods and the appearance of fighting men. This book describes all aspects of the knight's life, including his training in the castle yard and the hard knocks of tournaments. The knight's daily routine on campaign is explored along with the role of mercenary knights, the motivation of knights in the field and the influence of chivalry. The book is beautifully illustrated with eight colour plates by Graham Turner covering all aspects of knighthood in this period and also includes photographs of rare surviving contemporary pieces of armour.

Author: Robert Jones
Osprey General Military

From a life-long student of the medieval long sword and medieval history comes a comprehensive overview of the Age of the Knights. Jones shows that behind the popular image of the knight in shining armor lies a world that is both more complex and more fascinating. Were knights glory-seeking, bloodthirsty thugs that lay ravage to the Holy Land or simple Christians serving their king? Jones explores the myths and controversies behind their battle-effectiveness and chivalric code. He also examines knighthood as a "career path" and investigates the role of the knight in law and justice. Lavishly illustrated and drawing on rare first-hand accounts, this book reveals the world of the knight in all its tarnished glory.

Author: Christopher Gravett
DK Eyewitness Books

Detailed photographs trace the origins, heyday, and eventual decline of knighthood, chivalry, and the feudal system. While studying the Middle Ages, you can’t do that without learning more about knights and their chivalry. So obviously, the Eyewitness series has a book specifically dedicated to knighthood. You will learn everything that you wanted to know about the life as a knight with information about the first knights, the Normans, making a knight, iron everywhere, fashion in steel, the armor, the arms, on horseback, the castle, the castle at war, siege warfare, arming for the fight, the enemy, into battle, the castle at peace, the lord of the manor, the lady of the manor, the ideal of chivalry, the tournament, the joust, foot combat, heraldry, hunting and hawking, faith and pilgrimage, the crusades, Knights of Christ, Knights of the Rising Sun, the professionals, the decline of chivalry and much more.

The book is packed with information that will deepen your knowledge on knights. Throught the pages of this book, you will have plenty of photos and illustrations to help you visualize the life of a knight during the Middle Ages. A timeline as well as a glossary complete the book.

DK eyewitness books are some of the greatest non-fiction books around. The distinctive white background and high-quality photography gives this book an edge over any other nonfiction picture book. And—these pictures are real! They're beautiful museum-quality photos of all things related to knights, accompanied by informative captions and text.
Learn about medieval life, knights, armor, etc. If you know someone (young or old) who is fascinated by medieval times and knights, then you must introduce them to this book!

Author: Christopher Gravett
DK Eyewitness Books

Like Eyewitness Books? This is another nice entry in their series for younger readers. What is a castle? The book describes it thus: "A castle was the fortified private residence of a lord." The lord could be a king or a baron or some lesser noble. It was designed as both a residence AND a stronghold. The book begins by noting that such structures have had a long history (one ancestor goes back to Mycenae in about 1250 B.C.).

The volume moves on to consider the first castles (appearing in the 9th and 10th centuries A.D.). There is discussion of different approaches to building a castle--such as the use of concentric rings to harden the castle against attack. There are also discussions of different styles in castles--from the Loire region in France to Spanish castles, to German castles (take a trip along the Rhine River, and you will see numerous examples) to Japan. There is discussion of how those who wanted to capture a castle would strategize and how castles were structured to defend against such attacks.

The volume considers the different functions of a castle--from defense to kitchens and eating to entertainment.

The volume concludes with a discussion of the decline of castles.

Author: Stephen Turnbull
Illustrator: Wayne Reynolds
Osprey (Warrior)

The Mongol warriors are one of the great success stories of world military history. Under the leadership of Genghis Khan and his successors the Mongols conquered much of the known world, fighting in territory ranging from the frozen steppes, the wilderness of Palestine, the jungles of Java and the great rivers of China. Through all this they showed a remarkable ability to adopt, adapt and improve a vast range of military techniques and technology, from siege weapons to naval warfare. This book tells the story of this remarkable military organisation, including details of weaponry, tactics, training and beliefs.

Author: Anne Curry
Osprey (Essential Histories)

There can be no doubt that military conflict between France and England dominated European history in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This war is of considerable interest both because of its duration and the number of theatres in which it was fought. In this book, Hundred Years’ War expert Dr Anne Curry reveals how the war can reveal much about the changing nature of warfare: the rise of infantry and the demise of the knight; the impact of increased use of gunpowder and the effect of the wars on generations of people around it.

Author: John Richards
Illustrator: Gerry Embleton
Osprey (Warrior)

The Landsknecht (meaning 'servant of the country') flourished during a key period for military organisation and practice. In the late 15th century, the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, recruited thousands of mercenaries from Central and Northern Europe, with the aim of creating a reliable source of men for his armies – and the Landsknecht were born. This book reveals the true-life experiences of the Landsknecht soldier during conflicts such as those of the Italian Wars (1494-1559), using numerous first-hand accounts. It takes a close look at the recruitment, training, daily life and and careers of these formidable soldiers, and examines in detail their clothing, equipment and weaponry. Many fine, contemporary illustrations, some drawn by Landsknecht themselves, accompany the text.

Author: Helen Nicholson
Illustrator: Wayne Reynolds
Osprey (Warrior)

The order of the Temple was a military-religious organisation that was set up to protect pilgrims and settlers in the Holy Land. The Templars believed they were God's warriors fighting on God's behalf and developed a fearsome reputation among the neighbouring Muslim rulers. This book examines the men who joined the order and why they joined it, focusing on those who fought in the Holy Land. Based on contemporary sources it provides an effective insight into the daily lives of the warriors, from their admission ceremony to their training, organisation in the field, and how they fought in battle.

Author: David Nicolle
Illustrator: Angus McBride
Osprey (Men-at-Arms)

During the Middle Ages, Islam was Christian Europe's only civilized and most troublesome neighbor. The Middle Ages saw almost continual strife between these two distinct cultures. By the time the Frankish Crusaders reached the Middle East at the end of the 11th century, Islam had already incorporated three major races: Arabs, Persians and Turks, each of which contributed different strengths to the armoury of Islam. This title explores the organization, uniforms and equipment of the armies of Islam from the 7th to 11th centuries, backed by illustrations, museum photographs and eight full page color plates by popular Osprey artist Angus McBride.


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