AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR
This books shows for the first time the battle techniques of the medieval period and reexamines the sources for battle numbers.
We don't know how medieval soldiers fought. Did they just walk forward in their armour, to smash each other with their maces and poleaxes, for hours on end, as depicted on film in programs such as Game of Thrones? They could not have done so. It is impossible to fight in such a manner for more than several minutes as exhaustion becomes a preventative factor. Indeed, we know more of how the Roman and Greek armies fought than we do of the 1300 to 1550 period. So how did medieval soldiers in the War of the Roses, and in the infantry sections of battles such as Agincourt and Towton, carry out their grim work? Medieval Military Combat shows, for the first time, the techniques of such battles. It also breaks new ground in establishing medieval battle numbers as highly exaggerated, and that we need to look again at the accounts of actions such as the famous Battle of Towton, which this work uses as a basic for its overall study.
AUTHOR: Dr Tom Lewis OAM is an Australian author and military historian. He served for 20 years in the Australian Defence Forces, and is also a high school teacher. He has been awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to naval history.
By:
Tom Lewis
Imprint: Casemate
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 228mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781612008875
ISBN 10: 1612008879
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 01 November 2020
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified
Introduction 2. An initial understanding of tactics, armour and weapons, and how Hollywood confuses matters 3. The Black Hole of Knowledge regarding Medieval Combat 4. The Longbow’s Place in Medieval Battle 5. The effectiveness of poleaxes 6. How were medieval battles fought? 7. Towton as an example - the battle is joined 8. The myth of fatalities 9. A conclusion, and a new understanding of Medieval Battle Appendices Appendix 1 - Polydore Vergil and Edward Hall’s accounts Appendix 2 - Percussive weapons of the Leeds Armouries database
One of Australia's foremost military historians, Dr Tom Lewis is a former naval officer and author of 14 books. Tom is a resident of Darwin and teaches secondary school history.
Reviews for Medieval Military Combat: Battle Tactics and Fighting Techniques of the Wars of the Roses
Screenwriters and directors of fantasy or medieval film or television battles would benefit greatly from reading this book! * Miniature Wargames - Arthur Harman 12/04/2021 * A very good read for anyone trying to better understand warfare in the period and also for those interested in analytical approaches to the study of poorly documented conflicts. * The NYMAS Review 31/08/2021 * A work of seminal outstanding and meticulously detailed scholarship, this book is a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college and university library Medieval History collections in general, and Medieval Military History supplemental curriculum studies lists in particular. * Midwest Book Review 21/06/2021 * The author of this ambitious study puts forward three hypotheses to present what he calls 'a new theory of medieval battle'. First, he argues that the men-at-arms - what we would best understand as 'knights' - were rotated on the front line as they could only engage their opponents for a few minutes at a time without becoming exhausted; second, that battles were far less deadly that might be imagined; and third that the overall numbers involved were far fewer than is generally thought. * Toy Soldier Collector & Historical Figures 21/06/2021 *
