Medieval European Armies 1300-1500 (Men at Arms Series, 50) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Osprey Men-at-Arms series has been around for quite some time. As you can tell by looking at the number on this one (50), this was one of the early efforts. It really shows.
First of all, it should be noted that is book covers the era 1300-1500 AD (approx.), so the earlier Middle Ages are ignored entirely. It also relies heavily on Victorian era illustrations (not for their central colour section, though) for many of the pictures -- this is very sad as most of these illustrations are woefully inaccurate. The central colour illustrations are of a much higher caliber, but not up to the current standards of the series.
The information falls into the "good enough" category. It's not that the information is dreadfully wrong, it is just that it is woefully generalized and, by current academic standards, rather antiquated. The series as a whole has done a fine job of late by focusing on smaller time periods and specific nations (thus French Medieval Armies, 1000-1300, as an example) which far supercede this volume.
If you are only going to have one volume on medieval arms and armour, you could do worse than this book. Then again, you might just want to set your standards a tech higher...

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Almost continual warfare raged in Europe during the period 1300-1500. These wars were the furnaces in which many of the modern European nations were forged. Parallel with this emergence of the nations came the development of national armies to protect the newly-won borders and independence, yet throughout this period the old feudal method of raising an army persisted. This fascinating study by Terence Wise explores the organisation, weapons and equipment of the armies who fought across medieval Europe, from the Hundred Years War to the fight against the Moors in Spain and the French invasion of Italy.