Richard Brzezinski Book order

The Sarmatians - one of the many nomadic groups to emerge from the great Eurasian Steppe - crossed the Don in about the 3rd century BC to displace their western neighbours, the Scythians, in the lands north of the Black Sea. Later they burst into Asia Minor and Rome's Danube provinces, becoming famous for the prowess of their lance-armed cavalry - first as enemies, and later as allies of Rome. They influenced Rome's adoption of heavy armoured cavalry, and in Roman service they were even posted to Britain. Drawing upon a wide reading of Classical authors and of Russian archaeological publications, this fascinating study is the first major English language attempt to reconstruct their armour, equipment and tactics.

Gustavus of Sweden had a marked effect on warfare in the 17th century, choosing to fight with small flexible units, instead of the cumbersome massed formations common at the time. This volume covers the uniforms, organization and equipment of his infantry.

The 17th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was almost as varied as modern America. Alongside Slavs lived Lithuanians and other Balts, Germans, Tatars, Armenian merchants, Jewish traders, and even a remarkably large populations of Scots. This variety of cultures had a strong influence on the Polish army. Along with the predominantly Polish and Lithuanian 'winged' hussars served numerous foreigners from both within and outside the Commonwealth: Tatars and Cossacks, Wallachians, Transylvanians, Moldavians, Hungarians, Serbians and Albanians; and from the West, French, Italians, Dutch, Walloons, Swedes and Scots. Richard Brzezinski's companion volume to Men-at-Arms 184 completes his fascinating examination of Polish armies from 1569-1696.

Few people will realise that at one time the Polish state was one of Europe's great powers. One of the chief instruments of her success was undoubtedly her army, which though small can claim many accomplishments and major successes in the 16th and 17th centuries. Richard Brzezinski redresses this imbalance by providing a portrait of Polish armies from 1569-1696, detailing their history, organisation, arms, armour, insignia and dress, accompanied by numerous illustrations and eight superb full page colour plates by Angus McBride.