Medieval history from the 13th Century until the end of the 15th Century. These superb books describe the wars of the world including Lake Peipus, Qadesh, Crecy, Agincourt, Constantinople, Grenada and Fornovo. Historical books available from the Military Shop at great prices.

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Post UK- £3 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £5.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Rest of World £8.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Crusader Castles of the Teutonic Knights (1) by Stephen Turnbull.

Throughout their stormy history the Teutonic Knights of Germany have always been the most controversial brotherhood ever to call themselves Knights of Christ.  They were the most warlike of the religious orders, and this is reflected in the architecture they left behind.  In contrast to the Templars who are remembered for their churches, the Teutonic memorials are the magnificent brick built castles constructed as a result of their conquest of Prussia between 1230 and 1380.  Many of these dramatic fortresses still exist today in what is now Poland and provide a unique example of an architectural style that closely reflects the nature of the Order.

Part of the Osprey Fortress Series.  Illustrated paperback with approximately 65 pages.

Order code FS11. Book price £10.99.

The Great Siege: Malta 1565 by Ernle Bradford.

In 1565 the Ottoman Empire was at its peak. Under their Sultan, Soleyman the Magnificent, the Turks had conquered most of Easdtern Europe. The rulers of Christian Europe were at their wits end to stem the tide of disaster. The Knights of St. John, the fighting religious Order drawn from most of the nations of Christendom, had been driven from their island fortress of Rhodes forty years earlier. From their new base of Malta their galleys had been so successful in their raids on Turkish shipping that the Sultan realised that only they stood between him and total mastery of the Mediterranean. He determined to obliterate the Knights of Malta.

This brilliant reconstruction of the Siege of Malta brings history vividly alive, and carries the reader through the many battles, the heroism and the hunger to the relief which came, nearly too late, and the final victory.

Illustrated paperback with 256 pages.

Book serial number W25. Price £7.99.

The Crecy War by Lt Col Alfred H Burne.

The Hundred Years War between France and England has fascinated professional and amateur historians - including Shakespeare - down the centuries. It was, in effect, four wars, and this volume is a military history of the Hundred Years War from 1337 to the Peace of Bretigny in 1360. Its companion volume The Agincourt War covers the latter part of the war to 1453.

It was a war in which the English won a number of battles against the odds - from the great sea battle of Sluys to the astonishing victories at Crecy and Poitiers, where the French king was captured. Sir Arthur Bryant said of Colonel Burnes book - A most important book- a work of original research, written by a master of his subject... A model of how history should be written, packed with accurate information and commonsense.

Illustrated paperback with 366 pages.

Book serial number W30. Price £7.99.

Lake Peipus 1242, Battle of the Ice by David Nicolle

The story of the struggle between the Teutonic Knights and the powerful Russian city state of Novgorod, under their inspirational leader Alexandre Nevskii. The Teutonic Knights were a powerful military order, backed with the crusading zeal of Europe, the blessing of the Pope and the support of the Holy Roman Emperor. The clash of arms around the frozen shores of Lake Peipus was immortalised in Eisenstein's epic film 'Alexandre Nevskii'.

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 46

Qadesh 1300BC, Clash of the Warrior Kings by Mark Healy

Qadesh is the earliest battle in the history of mankind whose course can be reconstructed in detail. In this volume, Mark Healy presents a military interpretation of this great clash between the armies of the Pharaoh Rameses II and the Hittite King Muwatallish, together with the events that led to it, illustrating his account with well chosen photographs of inscriptions - including the pictorial reliefs on Egyptian temple walls - and photographs of the battlefield as it is today.

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 22.

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Post UK- £3 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £5.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Rest of World £8.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Crécy 1346, Triumph of the Longbow by David Nicolle

The battle of Crécy was the first major land battle of the Hundred Years War. It pitted the French Army, then considered the best in Europe, and their miscellaneous allies against the English under King Edward III and the 'Black Prince', who as yet had no great military reputation; this was the battle where he 'won his spurs'. The Genoese crossbowmen were outshot by the English longbows and the pattern was set for the rest of the day: the French cavalry were committed piecemeal in fruitless charges against strong English positions, losing perhaps 10,000 men in the course of the fighting. After almost a millennium in which cavalry had dominated the field of battle, the infantrymen, and particularly the longbowmen, now ruled supreme.

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 71.

The Armies of Crecy and Poitiers by Christopher Rothero

Book serial number Osprey MA111. Price £8.99. 

Nicopolis 1396, The Last Crusade by David Nicolle

By the late 14th Century the once mighty Byzantine Empire had been reduced to little more than the city of Constantinople itself. In 1391 the Ottoman ruler, Yildirim Bãyazîd, besieged the city. Pope Boniface IX preached a crusade and John de Nevers, the son of the Duke of Burgundy, led a Franco-Belgian army of 10,000 eastwards. They joined forces with Sigismund, King of Hungary, and at Nicopolis on the Danube they met the Ottoman army in battle. Driven on by their arrogance and against the advice of their Hungarian and Transylvanian allies, the Crusaders charged the Ottoman positions, broke through and were in turn smashed by the Ottoman heavy cavalry and their Serbian allies. The last Crusade ended on the banks of the Danube as the Crusaders desperately sought to escape from the pursuing Turks.

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 64

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For Europe £5.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Rest of World £8.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

The Agincourt War by Lt Col Alfred H Burne.

This companion volume to the Crecy War (also published by Wordsworth Editions) is a military history of the latter part of the Hundred Years War form 1369 to 1453. It opens, following the death of the Black Prince, with a series of reverses which contrast starkly with the earlier victorious campaigns. The English cause languished until the spectacular rise of Henry V and his crushing defeat of the French and victory at Agincourt. Names familiar from Shakespeares histories resound through these pages - Chandos, Bedford, Salisbury, Talbot, du Guesclin and Joan of Arc.

While the highlight of the book is the Battle of Agincourt, there are a number of battles of almost equal military interest; indeed the Battle of Verneuil has been described by a French writer as un seconde Azincourt.

Illustrated paperback with 359 pages.

Book serial number W29. Price £7.99.

Agincourt 1415

Immortalized by Shakespeare, Agincourt is an epic of courage and hard fighting. Brought to bay after the long siege of Harfleur, Henry V's army was soaked, starving and riddled with disease, and facing a French army at odds of more than 3 to 1. How the English beat off their attackers and slaughtered the flower of French nobility is vividly described in this volume. Matthew Bennett is a lecturer at the RMA Sandhurst and a specialist in medieval military history.

The Armies of Agincourt by Christopher Rothero

Book serial number Osprey MA113. Price £8.99. 

Pavia 1525, The Climax of the Italian Wars by Angus Konstam

Pavia was the most decisive battle of the Italian Wars which raged almost continuously between 1494 and 1529. In a titanic clash the French were smashed by the Imperial army, King Francis I captured and the cream of his nobility slaughtered. A military cataclysm on a scale France had not seen since Agincourt, it swung the balance of power in western Europe towards the Empire of Charles V. Hailed as the first modern battle Pavia saw the demise of the traditionally armed man-at-arms and the rise of hand held firearms.

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 44

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Constantinople 1453, The End of Byzantium by David Nicolle

This title details the epic four month siege of the city of Constantinople, last vestige of the once mighty Roman and Byzantine Empires. Mehmet 'The Conqueror' led an army of 80,000 men with a massive siege train against the city. Defending were a mere 10,000 men under the Emperor Constantine XI. The Turkish artillery battered the ancient city walls mercilessly, levelling a large section. A gallant defence held off the massive Turkish assault for several hours. Refusing appeals to flea, Constantine returned to the breaches and fought until overwhelmed and killed. Thus died the last Emperor of the Byzantines, and with him his once glorious empire.

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 78

Granada 1492, The Twilight of Moorish Spain by David Nicolle

By 1481 Granada was the last Islamic enclave in Catholic Spain. Granada's last ruler, Muhammad XII 'Boabdil', faced the might of the Spanish royal army revitalised and lavishly equipped with modern artillery. Despite this mismatch of strength it took 11 years of hard campaigning before the Spanish troops could bring their guns to bear on the walls of Granada. After this the outcome could not be long delayed. Andalusia, the physical embodiment of the flowering of Islamic culture in Spain was snuffed out.

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 53

Fornovo 1495, France's Bloody Fighting Retreat by David Nicolle

Charles VIII, attempting to seize control of southern Italy for use as a platform for war against the Ottoman Turks, lead the most powerful army in Europe at that time down through Italy, defeating one Italian province after another. The Italian states opposing this venture evolved into the League of Venice and at Fornovo brought the French juggernaut to a standstill. This battle would mark the beginning of gunpowder weaponry and the start of the bloody Italian wars.

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 43

Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 50.

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Malta 1565, Last Battles of the Crusades by Tim Pickles

The epic siege of the island fortress of the Knights Hospitaller by the Turkish army of Suliman is one of the most compelling stories in the history of the western world. With an army of 30,000 men which doubled in size as the siege dragged on, the Turks believed the small force of 500 knights plus 8500 other troops would be easily crushed. However, despite constant pounding from the Turkish siege train, heavy casualties and appalling suffering the knights managed to hold out until their relief came some 3 months later.

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Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 114.

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Lepanto 1571 by Angus Konstam

For much of the 16th century the Mediterranean was a battleground between Christians and Muslims.  A decisive battle between two large galley fleets was expected to decide the fate of the entire Mediterranean basin.  In August 1571, an Ottoman fleet of some 235 galleys encountered the slightly smaller Christian fleet of the Holy League.  In a five hour melee the Christians inflicted a decisive defeat on the Turks.  Lepanto was the last great galley fight of all time and one of the most decisive naval battles in history.  This book details the course of one of the most crucial military campaigns of the Renaissance.

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Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 117.

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Stirling Bridge & Falkirk 1297-98 by Pete Armstrong

The death of the last of the Scottish royal house of Canmore in 1290 triggered a succession crisis.  Attempts to undermine Scottish independence by King Edward I of England sparked open rebellion culminating in the English defeat at the hands of William Wallace at Stirling Bridge in 1297.  Edward gathered an army, marched north and at Falkirk on 22 July 1298 he brought Wallace's army to battle.  Amid accusations of treachery, Wallace's spearmen were slaughtered by Edward's longbowmen, then charged by the English cavalry and almost annihilated.  In 1305 Wallace was captured and executed, but the flame of rebellion he had ignited could not be extinguished.

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Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 122.

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Tannenberg 1410 by Stephen Turnbull

By 1400 the long running conflict between the Order of Teutonic Knights and Poland and Lithuania was coming to a head, partly as a result of the Order's meddling in the internal politics of its neighbours.  In June 1410, King Wladislaw Jagiello of Poland invaded the Order's territory with a powerful allied army including all the enemies of the Teutonic Knights - Poles, Lithuanians, Russians, Bohemians, Hungarians, Tartars and Cossacks.  This book recounts how, when the armies clashed on the wooded, rolling hills near the small village of Tannenberg, the Teutonic Knights suffered a disastrous defeat from which their Order never recovered.

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Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 102.

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Bannockburn 1314, Robert Bruce's Great Victory by Pete Armstrong

Bannockburn was the climax of the career of King Robert the Bruce.  In 1307 King Edward I of England, 'The Hammer of the Scots' and nemesis of William Wallace, died.  His son, Edward II, was not of the same mould.  Idle and apathetic, he allowed the Scots the chance to recover from the grievous punishment inflicted upon them.  By 1314 Bruce had captured every major English-held castle bar Stirling and Edward II took an army north to subdue the Scots.  Pete Armstrong's account of this pivotal campaign culminates at the decisive battle of Bannockburn that finally won Scotland her independence.

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Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 94.

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Orleans 1429, France Turns the Tide by David Nicolle

In 1415, King Henry V of England invaded France and won an overwhelming victory at the battle of Agincourt.  Following his victory, the English conquered a large part of Northern France, and by 1429 were besieging the city of Orleans.  In this darkest hour, France's fortunes were transformed by the inspirational leadership of a young woman, Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc).  Within four months the French had broken the siege and won a great victory at the battle of Patay over the previously invincible English.  This book examines the crucial campaign which marked the turning point of the Hundred Years War.

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Book price £12.99. Book serial number Osprey 98.

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Kalka River 1223, Genghiz Khan's Mongols Invade Russia by D Nicolle and V Shpakovsky

In 1221, Genghiz, Great Khan of the Mongols, ordered an armed reconnaissance expedition into Russia commanded by Subodei Bahadur and Jebei Noyon ' The Arrow'.  The consequences for the history of Europe were incalculable.  The decisive Mongol victory at Kalka River opened up vast regions of Russia and Eastern Europe to Mongol conquest.  Genghiz ordered his victorious army to return eastwards, delaying the final cataclysm by a few years.  Genghix died in 1227, but within 10 years his son Ogedei ordered a return to Russia to complete the conquest.  This title details the events of the dramatic Kalka River campaign.

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