Historical Reading

[J. Harvey]

Just thought I'd make an observation on reading material. I know we all like to read accurate detailed books, but stop for a moment and think how often we miss the big picture. Gotta face it myself, I don't often have a good general understanding of Medieval and Renaissance life and times , the solution - childrens books. Now don't dismiss this out of hand , we all must start somewhere and childrens books do this very well and they allow us to see the whole forest not just the trees. Many "childrens" books are just too good to be true , such as those by Ewart Oakeshott ( I think most of these titles are on the website and several are reviewed). I have recently read his "A Knight and His Armor", "A Knight and His Weapons",and "A Knight and His Castle" all are excellent informative and fun. Crabtree Publishing has a series of about twenty childrens books in thier The Medieval World series, these are indeed aimed at children and very short, but contain information in a consolidated form it would take years to aquire reading "Adult" books. So I encourage everyone to swallow their pride and just learn by whatever means . I'd also like to have anyone list some other informative books they have run across.
By the way alot of these books can be found for a buck or two - especially if you buy a good used copy.

[Corey Roberts]

I don't tend to delve into the Children's books but here are some good "adult books" I have read relevant to our study:

-The Condottieri Soldiers of Fortune by Geoffrey Trease

This book gives an excellent overview of the condotta system of warfare in Italy in the the 15th century, and goes over the lives of some of the more famous Condottieri of Italy during the period. Highly recommended.


-Daily Life in Medieval Times by Frances & Joseph Gies
This book is not about warfare or swords, but gives a very good account of how people lived in England during the 13th century, and clears up a lot of misinformation and mythology. Fun read. Although not specifically about our art it is good to have a background in how normal people lived in the Medieval period. Also this book focuses on a period which is rather early for our studies, but still relevant.

-Swords and Hilt Weapons by Michael d. Coe et al.
Very good overview of swords from all over the world.

[John Farthing]

Indeed! Children's books can be great resources and are all too often passed over. While it is important to remember that the information presented in most books for children is going to be very basic (and often times 'watered down'; i.e. harsh violent acts of the Medieval period, such as rape for example, are not going to be presented in books targeting younger readers), these books can still have enormous value to the armchair historian. One of the strengths of many children's volumes (such as the 'Eyewitness' series from Dorling Kindersley/Knopf) are the stunning visual representations of Arms, Armour, etc. which all to often is found lacking in many more 'scholarly' works. Children's History books often contain beautifully rendered, high quality photographs, all too often absent in more 'adult' reading selections. While I'm certainly not suggesting forsaking the reading of more academic tomes in favour of 'picture books', the visuals contained in children's books (and many art books) can provide a greater appreciation for, and understanding of, many of the artifacts only textually described in other works.

Certainly the most complete understanding will come from reading not one book, but many. If those readings do not strongly favour children's books as the primary source of information, but rather utilize them as the valuable tool they are to accentuate ones library (they often make great reference books too!) then one stands only to gain from them!

In closing, it might be further pointed out that many children's books are authoured by the same well respected and highly accredited scholars that write more mainstream history books as well. The information (while often less thorough, for reasons such as included above) can certainly not be deemed less accurate when taking into account the caliber of many writers scholarly achievements and accreditations.

[Chris Moritz]

Campaigns of Alexander

Written between 173 A.D. and 180 A.D. by Arrian (the man who wrote down the sayings of the philosopher Epectitus, of whom he was a pupil).

Available in paperback and a very easy and compelling and interesting read. If you hated the movie Alexander, then you will like the original book much better, which has actually survived for us to read in an English translation.

Penguin Classics introduction:

"ARRIAN, or Flavius Arrianus Xenophon, to give him his full name, was a Greek born of well-to-do parents at Nicomedia, the capital of the Roman province of Bithynia, probably a few years before A.D. 90. His father had been granted Roman citizenship, which enabled Arrian to take up his career in the imperial service. In about A.D. 108 he studied philosophy under Epictetus and wrote down his sayings in the Discourses, and a summary of his teachings in a Manual. His imperial advancement was rapid, and in A.D. 129 or 130 he achieved the consulship. But it was his appointment as governor of the border province of Cappadocia a year later which shows hos greatly the Emperor Hadrian trusted his undoubted military and administrative abilities. His command included two Roman legions and numerous auxiliary troops, a rare, perhaps unexampled, responsibility for a Greek at that time. In A.D. 134 he drove the invading Alans out of Armenia in a campaign he describes in The Formation against the Alans. He also wrote Tactical Manual for cavalry, and the Circumnavigation of the Black Sea, an account of the voyage he undertook from Trapezus to Dioscurias in 131-2. He retired or was recalled before the death of Hadrian in 138, and devoted the rest of his life to writing, living at Athens. He became an Athenian citizen and rose to be chief magistrate in 145, and Member of the Council in 180. The surviving works of Arrian's Athenian period are handbook, On the Chase, The Campaigns of Alexander in seven books, and the Indica, an account of the voyage of Alexander's fleet from India to the Persian Gulf."

[Anthony R. Camacho]

A very comprehensive and classical history the 14th Century, especially concerning the 100 years war, is Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror, The Calamitous 14th Century." A more recent, and easier to read, work is Michael Prestwich' s "Knight, the Medieval Warrior's Unofficial Manual, which is a modern "how to" book about being a knight, however, the author, a prominent English medieval historian, states that all the views expressed in his work represent the opinions and knowledge of the period from 1300 to 1415. Finally, my favorite contemporary work is Baltasar Castiglione's "Book of the Courtier" which sets a contemporary model for the true Renaissance Man.

Anthony R. Camacho