Product Description

Medieval Italy was characterized by regular warfare among its numerous city-states, as well as internal strife within comunes as aristocratic factions fought each other for domination of the cities' governments. In this context, Italian warfare developed quickly, with the crossbow playing a key role in improving the armour technology of the Italian city militias that used them. This book traces the evolution of the Italian militiaman, providing a comprehensive view of all aspects of the late medieval Italian city militias, from the weaponry, attitudes and social backgrounds of their members, to the political context that made such formations necessary.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #676266 in Books
• Published on: 1999-02-26
• Released on: 1999-02-26
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

From the Publisher
Insights into the real lives of history's fighting men, packed with full colour illustrations, highly detailed cutaways, exploded artwork of weaponry and armour, and action-packed battle scenes.

About the Author
David Nicolle was born in 1944 . He worked in the BBC’s Arabic service for a number of years before gaining an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and a doctorate from Edinburgh University. He has written numerous books and articles on medieval and Islamic warfare, and has been a prolific author of Osprey titles for many years.

Customer Reviews

UNIQUE.
David Nicolle's books for the Osprey series are rather good considering that the series itself is more about regalia than in depth historical analysis. This book is unique in that the author delves into the steady progression from militiamen to professionalism. He gives fine descriptions of the evolution of the deadly crossbow, as well as some highlights of the socio-political scene of this often ignored period. The color plates are very good. If the author had been given more pages I am fairly certain this would have gotten 5 stars. It was worth the price.