The Knight: An Introduction to the Most Admired Warriors in History

By Alan Baker

Book Overview

An up-close introduction to the most admired warriors in historyThey mounted their horses, grasped the lances made of fine Bordeaux Steel, closed the visors of their helmets, and made their way to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760766568
• ISBN13: 9780760766569
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble Books
• Length: 217 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The M1-A1 Abrams of His Time

By Bill Marsano. In a time of J-DAMS, MOABs and other expressions of remote-control super-power warfare, the notion of the medieval knight will seem quaint at best to many readers. On the other hand, the knight the decisive weapon on the battlefields of his time. Through generations of movies, comic books and fairy tale the knight has come down to us as a purely romantic figure. Alan Baker is here with this small book to rescue these great warriors from their bubblegum image.This is a brief book, really no more than an essay for the entry-level history student, but enjoyable and informative nonetheless. Bakers gives us a clear-eyed view of how knights developed into an elite warrior class; how they trained and were armed; how they staged elaborate mock-combats--just as the Romans did in the Colosseum--to keep their skills sharp and their reputations high. For a taste of real warfare, Baker takes us through a well-organized history of the First Crusade.This book is designed to whet your appetite, not satisfy it. It does the job well: Most readers will, I think, be eager to go deeper into the day of old when knights were bold.--Bill Marsano is a long-time enthusiast of military affairs.