Here are 100 books that The Medieval Archer fans have personally recommended if you like
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A boyhood fascination with knights and castles, plus the inevitable influence of Tolkien’s world, drew me into medieval history, especially its warring side. An MA and a PhD in medieval warfare consolidated my enthusiasm, with my first three books being on that topic (what I call my Blood and Guts trilogy). I remain fascinated by the all-encompassing influence of medieval warfare on society and its unforgiving impact on warriors and non-combatants alike. Writing, lecturing, and public talks on these have led me into other interesting fields, including two TV documentaries.
Prof Gillingham was my first PhD supervisor. (I got through a couple or more!) I have always tried to emulate not only the clarity of his writing but also his dry touches of humour and his eminent common sense; not for him the clever-silliness of many academics. All these virtues are on display here in this highly readable account of The Wars of the Roses, in which a complex conflict is rendered enjoyably accessible.
Frequently remembered as a period of military history which both saw the French beat the English and then the English fight amongst themselves, traditional military historians have tended to pass over the period hastily, regarding it as an episode that wrecked England's military greatness. John Gillingham's highly readable history separates the myth from the reality. He argues that, paradoxically, the Wars of the Roses demonstrate how peaceful England in fact was. From the accession of the infant Henry VI to the thrones of England and France in 1422 to the accession of Henry VII following the Battle of Bosworth in…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
I’m just a guy who once obsessed over Forgotten Realms novels as a kid and, now, teaches history to military officers at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.In between, I got married, earned a PhD at the University of Delaware, and spent 12 years teaching in Baltimore. I’m very interested in cross-cultural warfare—as the crusades are a window into not only western and eastern warfare but also facets of cultural, literary, political, religious, and social history, studying them is endlessly fascinating and infinitely rewarding. My next book, Jerusalem Falls: Seven Centuries of War and Peace, continues my interest in the subject.
The subtitle gives it away—this is my (and, I’m guessing, most other medieval military historians’) go-to book for that most famous of crusades. France masterfully combines a captivating narrative with abundant historical detail, keen tactical/operational/strategic analyses, and expert interpretation. Each chapter is a delight, but not to be missed is France’s discussion of medieval generalship, his close study of army sizes, and especially the three full chapters on the fighting in and around Antioch in 1097-1098—which still constitute the best scholarly treatment of the events there. Despite a rash of newer works on the First Crusade over the last three decades, this remains the standard treatment for those interested in the war’s martial contours.
The success of the First Crusade, and its capture of Jerusalem in 1099, has been conventionally explained in terms of its ideological and political motivation. This book looks at the First Crusade primarily as a military campaign and asks why it was so successful. Modern writing about the crusade has tended to emphasise the moral dimension and the development of the idea of the crusade, but its fate was ultimately decided on the field of battle. Victory in the East looks at the nature of war at the end of the eleventh century and the military experience of all the…
A boyhood fascination with knights and castles, plus the inevitable influence of Tolkien’s world, drew me into medieval history, especially its warring side. An MA and a PhD in medieval warfare consolidated my enthusiasm, with my first three books being on that topic (what I call my Blood and Guts trilogy). I remain fascinated by the all-encompassing influence of medieval warfare on society and its unforgiving impact on warriors and non-combatants alike. Writing, lecturing, and public talks on these have led me into other interesting fields, including two TV documentaries.
This book was my “bible” during my days as an MA student of medieval warfare. Contamine convinced me that medieval warfare was truly at the heart of medieval society and thus deserving of dedicated study and research. While densely packed with facts and figures that can be daunting in their quantity, it is full of fascinating revelations, such as the bugler on the battlefield who died from over-exertion!
Covering the ten centuries following the fall of Rome, War in the Middle Ages engages all aspects of its subject, including the military customs and conditions of the various Western European states; armor and weaponry recruitment; and rules of combat developed to limit bloodshed. Philippe Contamine writes with an awareness that, in both theory and fact, medieval warfare was constantly evolving. He opens with a chapter on Roman military disintegration and the practice of warfare in the barbarian kingdoms erected on the empirea s ruins. He then shows how feudalization multiplied conflicts, and describes the resulting growth of the "great…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
In junior high, I happened across a picture of an armor-plated knight being raised by a winch to sit astride his destrier. What a ridiculous time period, I thought. After raiding every related book in the school library, I changed my opinion from “ridiculous” to “fascinating.” Particularly when deciding that periods such as the fourteenth century, with its plagues, wars, political upheavals, and climate change were pretty much a distorted mirror of our own. Throughout my life as wife, mother, novelist, and social justice advocate, I’ve held medieval England close to my heart. I remain forever grateful I’ve been able to explore it both in my writing and in several treks across the pond.
Each time I visit Canterbury Cathedral, I pay homage to my favorite knight, Edward of Woodstock, who epitomizes the fourteenth-century version of the knight nonpareil. Being an autodidact rather than a scholar, I am particularly grateful that Black Prince is both meticulously researched and easy to read. I particularly admire Prince Edward because of his courage on and off the battlefield, especially when enduring the mysterious illness that ultimately killed him. Edward the Black Prince embraced all the turns of fortune’s wheel with grace, courage, and dignity. Love this man and love this book!
As a child he was given his own suit of armor; at the age of sixteen, he helped defeat the French at Crécy. At Poitiers, in 1356, his victory over King John II of France forced the French into a humiliating surrender that marked the zenith of England’s dominance in the Hundred Years War. As lord of Aquitaine, he ruled a vast swathe of territory across the west and southwest of France, holding a magnificent court at Bordeaux that mesmerized the brave but unruly Gascon nobility and drew them like moths to the flame of his cause. He was Edward…
I was an author of history and travel books before turning to children’s fiction. My books for the publishers Pen and Sword tell the stories of the places associated with the Princes in the Tower, the boys who mysteriously disappeared from the Tower of London during the reign of King Richard III, and King Arthur, the semi-mythical King of the Britons during the Dark Ages. So it was obvious that I should use my passion for medieval history when it came to deciding on a setting for my collection of upper middle grade children’s novels. I hope readers enjoy reading them as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing them!
The great thing about this book is that it combines fast-paced adventure with authentic historical detail – particularly relating to the “classic” medieval themes of castles, battles, and sieges.
It’s a time-travel children’s book that was originally published in 1951 but was republished in 2015, and features as its main character a “contemporary” boy named Peter who, wandering around the ruins of a Welsh castle, finds himself transported back to the 1300s when his Norman ancestors held the castle and he was none other than the oldest son of Sir Roger de Blois.
As the inhabitants of the castle face a rebellion, Peter must learn how to hawk, fight, and shoot a longbow; fascinating aspects of medieval life that come alive on the page thanks to vivid writing by the author.
Young Peter is visiting uncle in the Welsh countryside. When he finds an old knight's gauntlet, he put it on and is transported back in time to the fourteenth century. There he is the supposed son of a great Norman knight, his ancestor. He learns all about the Medieval life, and enjoys every part of his adventure (archery, hawking, jousting), even when danger arrives in the form of attack from the Welsh tribes. He helps his family lift the seige of their castle, but must finally return to his time. Will anyone believe his story? How can he convince them?
I have been enthralled with legends of medieval knights and ladies, dark fairy tales and fantasies about Druids, wizards, and magic since childhood. I fell in love with French in junior high school and continued studying the language throughout college. My debut novel, "The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven"--the first of a trilogy-- is a blend of my love for medieval legends, the romantic French language, and paranormal fantasy. It is a retelling of the medieval romance of "Tristan et Yseult", interwoven with Arthurian myth, dark fairy tales from the enchanted Forest of Brocéliande, and otherworldly elements such as Avalonian Elves, Druids, forest fairies and magic— with a decidedly romantic French flair.
The legend of Robin Hood always fascinated me as a young girl, and this paranormal fantasy adaptation offers a smoldering romance set in medieval England in the enchanted Sherwood Forest. Based upon the legend of Robin Hood, this novel blends history, magic, passion, politics, and sacrifice in a compelling, captivating tale of the fabled archer reborn.
Curlew Champion, master archer, has always known his destiny. With his cousin, Heron Scarlet, he will become a guardian of Sherwood Forest and further his people's fight against Norman tyranny. But the third member of the triad is still to be revealed, the woman who will complete the magical circle and, perhaps, answer the longing in Curlew's heart.
Anwyn Montfort has fled disgrace in Shrewsbury and come to Nottingham at her father's bidding. He wishes her to make a good marriage and settle down. But the wildness that possesses her refuses to quiet. She knows she's been searching for something…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
I’ve been fascinated by the link between golf and the Eastern arts since I heard the great Jack Nicklaus say that golf is played with the feet. This immediately struck a chord with me as my background spans over thirty years of Tai Chi training and I have understood from this art that all movement comes from the ground upwards. The early training of Nicklaus in fact echoes that of the ancient warriors who understood the link between intention and action, which is a very different approach to the modern way of over-thinking technique. The simplicity of flow cancels out the need to separate the golf swing into individual positions.
This is one of my favourite books and I believe it is essential reading for any golfer looking for the secret to performing under pressure. The lessons from Zen archery are a must for any player who has experienced the thrill of the perfect shot and wondered why it was so effortless. Using the detailed example of the archer’s training regime, this book explains how the breathing, the body’s physical centre, and true balance all unite in the moment the arrow is released towards the target. In the same way, I have tried to teach golfers about the fundamentals of the martial arts for creating a state of relaxed readiness, this book shares the author’s insights gained over many years of practice, to achieve the pure simplicity of action within non-action.
My Master’s is in history, so books in the field are particularly of interest, especially those focused on the asides of the subject. One of the most unusual is No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War by Hiroo Onoda. When World War II ended in 1945, a number of Japanese soldiers, mostly in the jungles of the South Pacific, refused to surrender. Onoda was one of them. For three decades, the Japanese government tried to convince him that the war was over and flush him out of his hiding place in the Philippines, but to no avail. I found it fascinating to see his confirmation bias at work and described so clearly.
My first somewhat clear understanding of what Zen is, and perhaps isn’t, came from the reading of this book.
I have seen in my own life when I’m doing photography or playing golf that I can enter a state of Zen. Nothing else exists while I’m depressing the shutter or hitting that little white ball. The concept of mindfulness is something that is much easier to read about than put into practice, but reading this book has helped me take strides toward living in the present.
A classic work on Eastern philosophy, and a charming, deeply illuminating story of one man’s experience with Zen.
Eugen Herrigel, a German professor of Philosophy in Tokyo, took up the study of archery as a step toward an understanding of Zen Buddhism. This book is the account of the six years he spent as a student of one of Japan’s great kyudo (archery) masters, and of how he gradually overcame his initial inhibitions and began to feel his way toward new truths and ways of seeing.
I write fiction set in the Bronze Age world of the Trojan War and the Hittite Empire. I love to combine history and archaeology with magic and fantasy arising from the ancient beliefs of this period. My novels bring women to the fore—whether the captive Briseis or a remarkable Hittite queen lost to human memory until recently. Armed with degrees in Classics, I have spent too much time exploring the remains of the ancient Greeks and Hittites through travel and research. From the beginning, the Trojan War tradition has left room for many variations. Here are five entirely different “takes” on this iconic war—all masterfully written.
If a racially diverse, gender-bending, often raunchy, always nuanced, new take on an old tale sounds like a good read to you, then pick up this “novel-in-parts.” Both the racial and sexual fullness reflect historical reality, although they’ve ordinarily been left out. Retelling the Trojan War from its early causes to its tragic but still hope-infused end, the authors gave this rendition a compelling depth that will make you savor the old tradition with some new spice on your tongue.
Troy: city of gold, gatekeeper of the east, haven of the god-born and the lucky, a city destined to last a thousand years. But the Fates have other plans—the Fates, and a woman named Helen. In the shadow of Troy's gates, all must be reborn in the greatest war of the ancient world: slaves and queens, heroes and cowards, seers and kings . . . and these are their stories.
A young princess and an embittered prince join forces to prevent a fatal elopement.
A tormented seeress challenges the gods themselves to save her city from the impending disaster.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I have a real love of classic fiction and my first novel The Pretender is a modern-day adaptation of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper. I discovered this story as a child when a relative gave me a copy to read on the journey home from Scotland. While aspects of the story are frequently copied, the essence of the original novel felt forgotten. It’s such a beautiful story with many of the themes still relevant today that I decided to adapt it so a modern audience could rediscover and fall in love with it all over again. As an author, I draw a lot of inspiration from the classics.
As an archery enthusiast, I always feel a bit Maid Marian when I’m practicing with my bow and arrow! This historical YA reimagining of Robin Hood gives a new perspective on one of our most beloved childhood tales. However, it doesn’t focus on Robin as we’d expect but instead on his teenage daughter as she flees the clutches of King John in search of the father she has never known. Finding herself forced into a world of criminals to search for safety. This is a great adaptation and gives the story a whole new angle which makes it feel brand-new yet still features the beloved characters we’d wish to see. I love that this book allows you to rediscover such a classic story all over again!
![Book cover of The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham [1376-1422]](https://media.bookdna-cdn.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=avif,width=110,quality=75/media/covers/81OHr5D264S_yc7asn "Book cover of The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham [1376-1422]")
