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Title: Kalka River 1223: Genghiz Khan's Mongols Invade Russia (Campaign Series, 98.) by David Nicolle, V. Shpakovsky, V. Korolkov, Viacheslav Olegovich Shpakovskii, V. Shapakovsky ISBN: 1-84176-233-4 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: February, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (3 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Good Overview of Mongol Invasion
Comment: Kalka River 1223: Genghiz Khan's Mongols Invade Russia is an excellent overview of the first Mongol invasion of medieval Russia. It is quite different from most other Osprey books, since the majority is dedicated to the describing the armies and their weaponary. As a result the book gives one a more indepth look at aspects other than the battle. While the 40 pages or so dedicated to the armies does not do either justice, it is a very good beginning.
Where the book falls off is in the description of the battle. One would surmise that the lack of a full description is caused by the lack of information. However, this is a minor matter.
Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent account of the Mongols and medieval Russia
Comment: This new title from Osprey really gave me a new perspective on history. I knew a great deal of the mongols and their empire before, but reading David Nicolle's book gave me loads of new information concerning this era and the details of the battle, which I never could have imagend. Nicolle and co-writer
V Shpakovsky has excelled in bringing light to this otherwise "dark" period in history with a comprahensible style of writing. The splendid illustrations by Victor Korolkov adds to the mesmorizing historical account. One is not only introduced to the Mongols, but also with the Russian and polovtsian men at arms as well, everything based on careful examinations along with the most recent archelogical findings.
I must say,that I didn't know much about the russian warriors at all, but this book really gave me an opportunity to find out more about this subject which history often seems to forget.
The battle of Kalka 1223, in which the Mongol generals Subotai and Jebei (with orders from Genghiz Khan) utterly crushed the russian military alliance, truly was one of the more decisive battles in european history, since it subsequently led to the devastating invasion of central europe in 1241. David Nicolle (and Shpakovsky) has brilliantly achieved with bringing ancient history into life, and I look forward to read more books by this author, as well as other titles from Osprey too of course.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in- and wants to learn more about the Mongols, Middle ages or just history in general.
Rating: 3
Summary: Military Archaeology, Not History
Comment: Since there are so few books on the Mongol campaigns, even mediocre ones such as Kalka River 1223 should be appreciated. To be fair, Dr. David Nicolle, author of many Osprey titles on Medieval Warfare, has done his usual thorough research into a subject of great interest to himself and produced a sturdy synthesis. Unfortunately, Dr. Nicolle's talents lie in the realm of military archaeology, not military history, which somewhat reduces the value of this volume to military readers.
Kalka River 1223 begins with a rather lengthy 7-page section on origins of the campaign and a chronology. An interesting two-page color map depicting the Eurasian steppes' climatic zones is also provided in the introductory section. The sections on opposing commanders and armies are rather lengthy compared to other Osprey titles - a full 31 pages or one-third of the entire volume. While the section on Mongol and Russian leaders is quite good, the section on armies will only appeal to medieval armor and weapon enthusiasts. Alas, Dr. Nicolle is so enthralled with detailing seemingly every aspect of Russian and Mongol equipment that he leaves virtually no space to discuss military organization, tactics, doctrine or training. Instead, he does make some generalized comments about tactics in the following section on opposing plans, which...does not discuss opposing plans. While it is fairly obvious that the Russians sought to defeat or deter invasion and the Mongol incursion was a reconnaissance in force, surely more could have been said about objectives and strategic goals. There are a total of five 2-D maps in Kalka 1223 (Eurasian Steppes, Mongol campaigns in 1220-2, the Russian armies assemble in 1223, Movements to the Kalka River and the Mongol Withdrawal) and three 3-D "Bird's Eye View" maps of the Battle of Kalka River. Probably the best aspect of this volume is the artwork, which is a radical departure in quality and quantity from the standard Osprey format; instead of three battle scenes, there are 10 excellent illustrations (Mongol troops, Russian cavalry, Polovtsian troops, the capture of Gemyabek, Russian troops on the march, the Mongol commanders, the Mongol charge at Kalka River, the attack on the Kievan camp, the escape of Prince Mstislavic and the Mongol victory feast) by a Russian artist. These illustrations help to enliven an otherwise plodding text.
The actual account of the Battle of Kalka River is a bit hazy due to the paucity of sources - the exact location of the battle is not even known - and Dr. Nicolle covers it in less than 6 pages of text. Dr. Nicolle concludes that, "in this first clash between Mongols and Russians, Genghiz Khan's warriors had encountered an opponent who was strong militarily but who lacked the Mongols' mobility. The Russians had also shown themselves to be extraordinarily disorganized." However, the rest of the account does not support the conclusion that the Russians were defeated due to inferior tactical mobility. At the outset of the campaign, the Russians joined forces with the Turkic steppe people known as the Polovtsians who also were threatened by Mongol aggression. Dr. Nicolle points out that the Polovtsians had light and heavy cavalry that was equal in mobility to the Mongol cavalry and in the advance to the Kalka River, the Allied covering force three times defeated Mongol cavalry rearguards. Furthermore, the Allies were defeated by the shock effect of a sudden charge of Mongol heavy cavalry that crumpled the Polovtsian advance guard and spread panic throughout the Russian army. The Russians were hit at the worst moment, with the three main corps split by a river-crossing operation. Yet while ¾ of the Russian army disintegrated, it is interesting that the remaining Kievan army was able to circle its wagons and survive for three days against the entire Mongol army. The Kievans eventually surrendered when their water was exhausted, but the episode demonstrates that the Mongols had difficulty in defeating steady troops. While Nicolle correctly identifies Russian disorganization as a contributory factor, lack of unity of command and poor command control combined with poor morale were probably the main reasons for the defeat, not fancy Mongol maneuvers. Russian command and control was a joke, and due to the requirement to negotiate military plans long in advance between the various princes, the Russian army lacked flexibility or adaptability. In addition, only about 20% of the troops were trained and well-equipped soldiers, with the other 80% representing the usual un-trained peasant militia cannon fodder. When this poorly commanded and polyglot force came under sudden, severe attack most of it shattered like a rack of billiards hit by a cue ball. Russian morale was probably also undermined by operating so far from friendly territory, in the relatively unknown steppes. Nevertheless, Nicolle's narrative makes it appear that the Russian defeat was inevitable which is less than certain. Had this army been deployed behind the Dniepr River and allowed to fight a set-piece battle, it would have done better. Certainly the Mongol defeat shortly after Kalka River at the hands of the Volga Bulgars demonstrates that the Mongols were not invincible.
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Title: Mongols (Men-At-Arms Series, 105) by Stephen Turnbull ISBN: 0850453720 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: June, 1986 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Lake Peipus 1242: Battle of the Ice (Osprey Military Campaign Series, 46) by David Nicolle, Angus McBride ISBN: 1855325535 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights by Stephen Turnbull, Richard Hook ISBN: 1841765619 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Medieval Russian Armies 1250 - 1500 (Men-At-Arms) by V. Shpakovsky, D. Nicolle, A. McBride, Osprey Publishing ISBN: 1841762342 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Armies of Medieval Russia, 750-1250 (Men-At-Arms Series, 333) by David Nicolle, David Nicolle PhD ISBN: 1855328488 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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