Byzantine Armies AD 1118–1461 (Men-at-Arms, 287)

This is the third book of a series books published by Osprey Publishing Company on the armies of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire for the period of time from 1118 C.E. (Common Era) thru 1461 C.E. Since the Armies of the Seljuk Sultanate overran Constantinople and the last remanent of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, this is the last book of the series dealing with the Byzantine Empire.The first book in this Byzantine Empire is the book called "Romano-Byzantine Armies of the 4th thru the 9th Centuries." While the second book in this series deals with the Byzantine Armies during the period of time from 886 C.E. thru 1118 C.E. Because the Byzantine Empire was part of the unified Roman Empire prior to the 4th Century C.E. the Armies of that period of time are covered by the numerous books offered by Osprey Publishing Company which deal with the Roman Empire.

Usual great text and plates, and the usual immensely useful at-a-glance timeline towards the front of the book. The plates alone capture how far the Byzantine Empire had fallen, ultimately from its Roman past, but even from its pre-Manzikert ancestors. The army consisted almost entirely of Nomad and European mercenaries. This book goes through the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks to the last eight years of a surviving Byzantine state, the 'Empire' of Trebizond, which finally fell to the Ottomans in August of 1461.

Great look back at the final days of the Byzantine Empire.

Here again, the limits inherent in Osprey's collections lead to a no more than ok book. It could have been a great one, as was, for instance the book on Byzantine armies 886-1118, if the scope had been limited to 1204 or, even better, made to cover the period 1081 to 1204. This would have given the book some unity in its structure and focused it on the Byzantine armies at the times of the Crusades, when the Empire confronted the West. Instead of that, we have a thing booklet covering the last 350 years of Byzantium.Although Ian Heath's and Angus McBride's efforts manage to salvage something from this inherently poor publishing decision, the result is rather predictable. The chronology takes up a full 8 pages out of 48. Added to the explanations needed for the plates (another 6 pages), this takes out almost a third of the book. What is left is divided into two sections.The first section attempts to review the first two of the four components of the military forces - the central army and the provincial armies - with a little section on the navy tagged onto it (6 pages). The problem here is that you get little feel and no idea of the differences and evolutions between the armies of the Komnenes before 1204 and those of the Empire of Nicea or of the Epirots during the 13th century. Contrary to what is implied, the Komnenes were still able to field relatively large forces, perhaps up to 20000 or 25000 (at most) for the largest expeditions lead by the emperors into Syria or against the Turks of Konya. It is only after 1204 (and with the exception of Pelagonia) were the largest forces never seem to have exceeded a few thousands.The second section is a catalogue of all the nations, people and tribes that served as mercenaries or allies for the Empire over the whole period (6 pages). While interesting and useful, there can only be a paragraph for each of themThere are however several strongpoints. While the section on the final fall of Constantinople is not original, although the presentation of the city's walls and defences is a nice touch, it does serve its purpose as a general introduction and the loss of Trebizond is original and rarely told. Another interesting section is the one on firearms in the Empire and it is boosted by a nice illustration of an Italian mercenary with a handgun in one of the plates. More generally, the plates are of the usual high quality that we have come to expect from Angus McBride.Thanks to these efforts, this is still just about an ok book worth three stars. Had it been split into two with each one illustrated with the same skill and the content more developed, each book could easily have been worth four stars.

A beautifully illustrated book and entertaining to read.

Great product, my son just loved it!! He would recommend this product to anyone. Well done! The quality is super.

The book for me is a treasure box.I didn't know that it has with so much detail the description of the Byzantine Armies.It is so easy reading and with the pictures of course and the fantastic illustrations.

Osprey has done it again. These guys are the masters of finding good pictures to print in their books. I find the time lines they put in their books a invaluable resource. About the only dissapointment i find in these books is the lack of color when they show the actual plates. The source materials are good also. They find information in a varied assortment of histories and have a complete bibliography at the end. Good book, as expected.

Gut

I was looking for a book to introduce me to the medieval Byzantine Empire's military and this one is ideal. It follows the usual Osprey format of a historical overview followed by colour plates of various Byzantine troops with descriptive text. Very pleased with this.

très bon descriptif et très belles illustration de l'armée byzantine de la fin de cet empire, lui_même héritier de l'empire romain d'orient fondé par constantin le grand. merci à amazon pour la qualité de l'envoi. un plaisir de lire ce numéro osprey.

These are perhaps one of the best series of books, they give you some history. But they are helpful with their plated, if you are modelling soldiers or are intrested in the various histories.