All Products

Although the Byzantine Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire and faced similar military problems, its solutions were very different. In North Africa, for example, Rome's large army concentrated on securing main roads and urban centres. Byzantium's smaller army built more fortifications and took a defensive stance. The most striking characteristic of later Byzantine military thinking was, however, the theme or provincial army system, which owed nothing to ancient Roman tradition. With eight superb full colour plates by Angus McBride, and many other illustrations, David Nicolle examines the history of Romano-Byzantine armies from 4th-9th centuries.

The Parthians were a warrior people. Though possessing no regular army they were superb horsemen and archers, and in time of war the nobility provided heavily armoured knights mounted on weight-carrying chargers. At Carrhae, it is believed that 20,000 Roman troops out of a force of about 36,000 died at the hands of the Parthians. In the third of four volumes covering Rome's enemies, this fascinating text by Peter Wilcox examines the armies and campaigns of the Parthians and Sassanid Persians. This worthy addition to Osprey's Men-at-Arms series contains a wealth of illustrations, including eight full page colour plates by popular artist Angus McBride.

If there is one thing we can be sure of concerning the Saxons, Vikings and Normans who inhabited the medieval world, it is that they were a good deal more advanced than some writings would have us believe. This fascinating book by Terence Wise explores the history, organization, clothing, equipment and weapons of Saxon, Viking and Norman peoples, covering wide-ranging topics such as Anglo-Saxon shields, Viking raiding ships and the organization of Norman armies.The absorbing and readable text is enriched by numerous illustrations and museum photographs with commentaries, plus eight superbly drawn full page colour plates by renowned military artist Gerry Embleton.

Tamerlane or Timur-i-Lenk ('Timur the Lame') is one of the most extraordinary conquerors in history. In the late 14th century his armies seized huge territories from the borders of Mongolia to Palestine and Anatolia. His passage was marked by massacres that outdid even those of the Mongols for sheer savagery. Timur's career was unequalled since Alexander the Great in terms of constant battlefield success. Only in his youth, while recovering his family estates south of Samarqand, did he face occasional defeat. This title tells the remarkable story of Timur and details the organisation, tactics, arms and armour of his all-conquering army.

Initially British officials were reluctant to accept the offers of loyal subjects to form fighting units but eventually the potential of a Provincial corps was realized. Yet they never received the whole-hearted support of the British regular army and this was a factor in their evental defeat. Nonetheless the Provincial Corps served with distinction – even fighting against the Spanish in Nicaragua and the Bahamas – and some remained in service for several more years by relocating to Canada. This book examines their experiences in this continental conflict and details their uniforms and equipment.

Henry V became King of England in 1413. He was one of the great warrior kings of the country, cast in the same mould as Edward I and Edward III. He was just, pious, athletic, chivalrous, acquisitive, ruthless and eager to gain honour on the field of battle. Henry hoped that a successful campaign against the nation's traditional enemy would draw the people together and establish the popularity of the Lancastrian dynasty. This splendid addition to Osprey's Men-at-Arms series explores the background, organisation and equipment of the armies which fought in one of the most famous conflicts in England's history – the Battle of Agincourt.

A combination of dynastic disputes, feudal quibbles, trade disagreements and historical antagonism resulted in the opening of the Hundred Years War in 1337. The first major English land victory in this conflict was the Battle of Crécy. This pitted the French army, then considered the best in Europe, against the English under King Edward III. The battle established the longbow as one of the most feared weapons of the medieval period, a reputation reinforced at the bloody battle of Poitiers where much of the French nobility was slaughtered and their king captured by the English host.

When Philip II ascended the throne in 359 BC, Macedonia was in danger of being engulfed by wild barbarian tribes to the north and wily Greek cities to the south. Philip had to expand the power of the throne or be swallowed up: the creation of a powerful army was imperative. When his son, Alexander, inherited his kingdom at the age of 20, he also inherited an army which was truly unrivalled. The Macedonians were veterans of battle, well equipped and eager for conquest. Add to this Alexander's supreme gifts as military commander and it is little wonder they achieved so much. Men-at-Arms 148 and Campaign 7 are also available in a single volume special edition as 'Alexander the Great'.

The importance of the Australian contribution to the Allied war effort during World War I should never be underestimated. Some 400,000 Australians volunteered for active duty, an astonishing 13 per cent of the entire (white) male population, a number so great that the Australian government was never forced to rely on conscription. Casualties were an astonishing 52 per cent of all those who served, ensuring that the effects of the war would be felt long after the armistice. In particular, their epic endeavour at Gallipoli in 1915 was the nation's founding legend, and the ANZACs went on to distinguish themselves both on the Western Front and in General Allenby's great cavalry campaign against the Turks in the Middle East. Their uniforms and insignia were also significantly different from those of the British Army and provide the basis for a unique set of artwork plates.

In the mid-19th century, Austria comprised a heterogeneous, multi-ethnic empire consisting of the Austrian or 'German' area; the Hungarian area; the Military Border; and the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. The diverse nature of the empire made it difficult to create a unified and up-to-date military system, especially with remnants of feudalism still strong in some provinces. This book examines the Line infantry, Grenz infantry (Border troops) and Jägers (riflemen) that formed the Austrian infantry. Numerous illustrations and photographs of uniforms, rank insignia and regiments complement the text, as well as eight full colour plates.

The huge, multi-national Austro-Hungarian army was a major factor in mid-19th century European politics. Sharing borders with ramshackle Ottoman Turkey and volatile Italy, the Empire was threatened both internally – by growing nationalist esentments – and externally by the ambitions of France and Prussia. The Imperial and Royal Army was representative of the Empire, its composition and gorgeously complex uniforms echoing the historical traditions of both German-speaking Middle Europe and the East-facing Hungarian borderlands. This detailed analysis of its cavalry arm – Kurassiers, Dragoons, Chevauxlegers, Hussars and Uhlans – follows the author/artist's similar treatment of the Austro-Hungarian infantry in Men-at-Arms 323, and includes detailed tables of regimental distinctions.

St Albans is unique in having been the site of two pivotal battles during the Wars of the Roses, yet this is the first book-length account to have been published. It offers a gripping account of the fighting, and of the politics and intrigue that led to it, and it incorporates the results of the latest research. The authors also plot the events of over 500 years ago onto the twenty-first century landscape of St Albans so that the visitor can retrace the course of each battle on the present-day ground.

In 1809 the dispossessed Friedrich Wilhelm of Brunswick, consumed by his desire for revenge against Napoleon, entered into an agreement with the Austrians to raise a new corps of infantry and cavalry. As a physical expression of this vengeance he decided to clothe his new troops all in black and adopted as his badge the skull and crossbones, resulting in his corps' christening as Die Schwarze Schar (the Black Horde). This book details the pivotal role that the Black Brunswickers played in major battles of the Napoleonic Wars, including Quatre Bras and Waterloo, and outlines the organization, uniforms and equipment of these formidable troops.

From the 13th century until early in the 17th century the Border Marches of England and Scotland were torn by a vicious and almost continuous cycle of raid, reprisal and blood feud. The Border Reiver was a professional cattle thief, a guerilla soldier skilled at raiding, tracking and ambush and a well organised 'gangster'. Including eight superb full page colour plates by Angus McBride, as well as numerous other illustrations, this text by Keith Durham explores the colourful history of these remarkable people.

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the British Army was unique: it was a small force raised entirely by voluntary recruitment. The first campaigns of the British Expeditionary Force brought admiration from the enemy, but by the end of 1914 it had been virtually eliminated. Kitchener's call for new volunteers drew such a patriotic response that by mid-1916 the BEF had grown to 55 divisions. This book explains and llustrates the uniform, equipment and organization of the British Army up to the end of the battle of the Somme.

In 1916, Britain was finally forced to introduce universal conscription to replace the terrible casualties suffered by the pre-war Regulars, the Territorials and the eager but unprepared volunteers of the 'New Armies'. In 1917 and 1918, the vastly expanded British Expeditionary Force became the most effective of all the combatant armies in France, its improved weapons and tactics forged in the furnaces of the Somme and the Ypres Salient. Shaken but resilient under Germany's last desperate offensive in spring 1918, it swept forward to final victory. This second of three titles charts its changing appearance in colourful detail.

Although Britain's greatest commitment of land forces was on the Western Front, British, Empire and Dominion troops also fought in other theatres of operations – and in some cases continued to fight there after the Armistice had ended hostilities in the West. This last of our series of three titles describes these far-flung campaigns, in Italy, the Balkans, the Middle East, several parts of Africa, Russia, China, and even the North-West Frontier of India. The text is illustrated with contemporary photographs, and with meticulous colour plates of British, African, Indian and Australian troops, in the uniforms and equipment used on battle fronts from the desert sands to the snows of north Russia.

The common image of the Confederate Army during the Civil War is dominated by a limited number of early photographs of soldiers wearing the gray and butternut associated with the CS regulations and quartermaster issues. This sequence of books examines a much wider field: the original uniforms of the state militia and volunteer companies which were brought together to form the Confederate armies, and the continuing efforts by individual states to clothe their troops as wear-and-tear reduced the originally wide range of uniforms. A mass of information from state papers and other contemporary documents is illustrated with rare photographs and meticulous color reconstructions.

The common image of the Confederate Army during the Civil War is dominated by a limited number of early photographs of officers and men wearing the gray and butternut associated with the CS regulations and quartermaster issues. This sequence of books examines a much wider field: the original uniforms of the state and volunteer companies which were brought together to form the Confederate field armies, and the continuing efforts to clothe troops as wear-and-tear gradually reduced the originally wide range of uniforms. A mass of information from contemporary documents is illustrated with rare photographs and meticulous color reconstructions.

The common image of the Confederate Army during the Civil War is dominated by a limited number of early photogaphs of troops wearing the gray and butternut of the CS regulations and quartermaster issues. By contrast, this book examines the uniforms of the Louisiana and Texas militia and volunteer companies originally brought together in the Confederate field armies; and the continuing efforts to clothe them as wear-and-tear gradually reduced this wide range ofuniforms. A mass of information from contemporary documents is illustraed with rare photographs and meticulous color reconstructions.

The common image of the Confederate Army during the Civil War is dominated by a limited number of early photographs of troops wearing the gray and butternut of the CS regulations and quartermaster issues. By contrast, this book examines the variety of uniforms worn by the Virginia and Arkansas militia and volunteers brought together in the Confederate field armies, and the continuing efforts to clothe them as wear-and-tear gradually reduced this wide range of uniforms. A mass of information from contemporary documents is illustrated with rare early photographs and meticulous color reconstructions.

The common image of the Confederate Army during the Civil War is dominated by a limited number of early photographs of troops wearing the gray and butternut of the CS regulations and quartermaster issues. By contrast, this book examines the variety of uniforms worn by the Tennessee and North Carolina militia and volunteers brought together in the Confederate field armies, and the continuing efforts to clothe them as wear-and-tear gradually reduced this wide range of uniforms. A mass of information from contemporary documents is illustrated with rare early photographs and meticulous color reconstructions.

The Southern states which formed the Confederacy in 1861 fielded many units of volunteer troops wearing a remarkably wide variety of uniforms, often reflecting foreign influences. In a spirit of independence many states also issued their own uniform regulations on the outbreak of the American Civil War; and these non-standard uniforms were often retained until well into the course of the war. The regulation patterns centrally prescribed by the Confederate Army were only ever followed unevenly, and state quartermasters continued to issue uniforms showing regional and state differences. This last in a series of six titles studies the archival and pictorial evidence for the infantry, cavalry and artillery of the final states to secede from the Union - Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland - and is illustrated with fascinating early photographic portraits.

The Czech Legion was not just a single military unit, but a volunteer army that fielded up to 100,000 troops on the Allied side on all three main fronts of the war. Since only the defeat of Austro-Hungary and Germany offered any hope for Czech national independence, they were amongst the most motivated and steadfast of the Allied forces. After the Bolshevik Revolution, they fought their way across Russia, captured the Russian national gold reserves and used this as a bargaining chip to force the Bolsheviks to allow them to return home. Today the Legion is recognised as the founding fathers of Czech nationhood. This very colourful force of World War I has never before been detailed in English and is illustrated with an astonishing array of never-before-published photographs.

This intriguing book describes the Romans' formidably warlike enemies in modern Romania and Bulgaria – their 'most illustrated' opponents, thanks to friezes on Trajan's Column and carvings on Trajan's Adamklissi monument.

The French forces that fought during the American War of Independence were, to a large extent, a product of the disasters of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). During that war the fleet had been swept off the oceans, and nearly all colonies had been lost. Sweeping reforms were demanded. From the end of 1762 a series of royal orders dictated by common sense and good planning were signed by the king, and a vast reorganisation was started, ensuring that the army that fought in the American War presented a very different, altogether more formidable threat to her foes.

New paperback edition - The most powerful dynasty behind the throne of Anglo-Saxon England, shedding new light on events such as the Battle of Hastings.

The Reformation in England further distanced the Irish, as the majority of Irishmen adhered stubbornly to their Catholicism. Eventually, in Elizabeth's reign, both sides resorted to the use of force on a large scale in a series of bloody wars and rebellions that were to culminate in the Earl of Tyrone's 'Great Rebellion' of 1595-1603. This text by Ian Heath looks at the history, organisation and tactics of the armies of the Irish Wars 1485-1603, armies which included such troops as the fearsome Irish Galloglasses, who bore a deadly axe six feet long with a blade one foot broad!

Between the first Jacobite rising in 1689 and the final collapse of the cause in 1746, the hopes of the House of Stuart were centred chiefly on Scotland. It is often wrongly assumed that the Jacobite rebellions were a contest between England and Scotland. In fact many Lowland Scots share the feelings of the English, and had cause to hate and fear their fellow countrymen in the Highlands. Thus it was to the Highland clans that the Jacobites looked to for their most reliable manpower. In this book Michael Barthorp details the events of the Jacobite rebellions, and the organisation and uniforms of the forces of both sides.

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.