The World of the Medieval Knight

Now come on. Admit it. You've been hunting high and low for an illustration of a late 13th-century gamboised cuisse (padded thigh-defence), poleyn (knee-defence)and schynbald (shin-defence), haven't you? Not to mention an exploded view of a vambrace (arm-defence) right down to the very last rivet. Seriously though, after a rather laboured start with spreads on The Castle, Castle Life, Manors and Towns, etc. all of which you can find just as well done in any number of other titles, this book leaps into a class of its own when it reaches the subject of armour and weapons - not surprisingly as the author works in the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London. The book appeals on any number of levels: browsers, younger pupils and less skilful readers will all find the illustrations wonderfully stimulating (my favourite was the gauntlet) whilst anyone wanting to make a more detailed study will find themselves suffering from information overload as the text is so detailed. Historians amongst you will warm to the fact that even an expert like this author has to admit to not knowing quite how some of the pieces worked. A gorgeous book that will give hours of pleasure to anyone remotely interested in the subject.