A British historian whose work centers on the military history of the Middle Ages, with a distinct focus on the Middle East. His extensive knowledge has been applied in his work for BBC Arabic and subsequently as a lecturer in world and Islamic art and architecture. His scholarship delves into detailed analyses of military conflicts and their cultural contexts, offering readers a deeper understanding of this pivotal historical era.
Islam, Eastern Europe and Asia
A second volume in the study of military weapons and equipment at the time of the Crusades. This book covers the arms and armour used by Muslim, Orthodox Christian, and Mongol armies, and emphasises the evolution of military technology, fashion, and science during the period.
Suitable for sharing or reading alone, this book features Meg's Veg, Mog at the Zoo and Meg up the Creek.
Meg the witch and Mog her cat go off to a wild Hallowe'en party with all the other witches. The spell they cast goes off with a BANG.
"Hundreds of fighter-bombers of Soviet design and manufacture served in the air forces of multiple frontline Arab states during the first half of the 1960s. Not only older Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-15s and MiG-17s, but also newer types such as the MiG-19 and MiG-21 were acquired in continuously increasing numbers, concurrently with Ilyushin Il-28- and Tupolev Tu-16 bombers, transport types such as the Antonov An-12 and Ilyushin Il-14, and trainers designed by Yakovlev. Nowhere else did they - and their pilots - play as important a role for the future of the local air forces - or entire nations - as in Egypt and Syria from 1963 until 1967. Whilst the period in question is still frequently described as a 'peaceful decade' in Israel and the West, they saw almost uninterrupted action: in Egypt, in Syria, as well as in Yemen, and especially in continuous incidents with Israel."
A Judeo-Turkish Empire of the Steppes, 7th -11th Centuries A.D.
Fully illustrated with detailed color plates, this is a fascinating study into the armies, organization, armor, weapons, and fortifications of the Khazars.The Khazars were one of the most important Turkic peoples in European history, dominating vast areas of southeastern Europe and the western reaches of the Central Asian steppes from the 4th to the 11th centuries AD. They were also unique in that their aristocratic and military elites converted to Judaism, creating what would be territorially the largest Jewish-ruled state in world history. They became significant allies of the Byzantine Empire, blocking the advance of Islam north of the Caucasus Mountains for several hundred years.They also achieved a remarkable level of metal-working technology, and their military elite wore forms of iron plate armor that would not be seen in Western Europe until the 14th century. The Khazar state provided the foundations upon which medieval Russia and modern Ukraine were built.
This is the first in a two volume work that divides its coverage of warfare between the fifth and fourteenth centuries into those seen in internal European and those campaigns waged by European nations beyond their boundaries and wars in other continents. The author supplements his informative text with illustrations and line drawings, extensive source notes and appendixes. He divides this first volume into: 'Barbarian' invasions and and the barbarian states. Early Medieval Europe; The High Middle Ages; Late Medieval Europe; In each section he covers the peoples, campaigns, battles, armies - their recruitment, organisation, tactics, strategy, weaponry, fortification, siege warfare and naval campaigns. This part of the book is followed by biographies of the leading characters of the period.
After the Second Crusade in 1148 the Crusader States embarked on a period of caution and consolidation and, in an increasingly hostile environment, began strengthening existing fortifications and building new castles.
Having campaigned on land during their early existence, the Hospitallers fought mainly at sea from the turn of the 14th century. The emphasis was now on small-scale operations, rather than the crusading invasion that had so often come to grief. Having conquered Rhodes, the Order fortified it and transferred there in 1309. A period of on-off warfare with the Mamluks became full-blown conflict with the Ottomans, who captured Rhodes in 1522, forcing the Hospitallers to transfer to Malta. This book, the second of two, takes a close look at the men who lived and died for the Hospitaller cause in this key period, and the political and economic role that the Order played within the Christian empire.
