Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Mamluks 1250-1517 (Men-At-Arms, No 259) by David Nicolle, Angus McBride, Martin Windrow ISBN: 1-85532-314-1 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: July, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The Mamluks
Comment: Perhaps because of the narrower scope of this title compared to others in the Osprey series, Dr. Nicolle went into greater depth in writing this title. A good overview of the Mamluk state.The Mamluks were slaves taken from pagan populations and trained to be soldiers for Muslim leaders. They ended up overthrowing their ruler in Egypt and establishing their own state there. Mamluks would square off against the Christian crusaders in Syria as well as the Mongols. Minuses: poor maps and the stereotyping mentioned by the other reviewer. Pluses: Artwork and bibliography. One day Osprey will learn to devote at least one or two pages to decent maps!
Rating: 4
Summary: Good, but with flaws
Comment: This book is a basic run-though of the military history and organization of Mamluk Sultanate, and for such small size - it is pretty good.
As far as the bad side, paragraph 3, on page 7, particularly stood out as I was reading it.
There, author makes some remarks about Circassians, which are direct opposites of the facts, and reveal his very poor, or even nonexistent knowledge of Caucasus and it's indigenous inhabitants (the knowledge that is essential for those who want to understand Mamluks).
Here is the quote: "[Circassians] were essentially Europeans, mostly from the Christian regions of the Caucasus and Russia. Never particularly renowned for their military skills, they had long been regarded as a second-best source of manpower."
Let me break it down in three parts:
1st - "[Circassians] were essentially Europeans" - Here, what the author, as well as majority of westerners seem to be unaware of, is that physically, Caucasus is part of Asia, and that Caucasus' culture and it's indigenous inhabitants are ethnically part of Middle East.
2nd - "mostly from the Christian regions of the Caucasus and Russia" - Let me first say that this phrase is similar to something like "Turko-Mongolian tribes came from mostly Christian regions of Central Asian steppes and Scandinavia" - at the time when Circassians (and other North Caucasians as well, whom author does not mention) began to be recruited into armies of the Caliphate, neither Northern Caucasus nor Russia had any Christians. Russia became Christian in the 10th century, while Caucasus was Caliphate's recruiting ground since 7th and 8th centuries. The only real Christian regions in Caucasus are in Georgia and Armenia. The Circassians come from the North Western part of Caucasus, where they were always governed by the unwritten, traditional laws of honor and respect, known as "Khabza". Circassians were never organized by any religion, and before massive embrace of Islam in 18th and 19th century, were in their majority pagans (there were small number of Muslims, but not on a large scale, Christians were very rare, and certainly there weren't any "Christian REGIONS").
Next very important concern is how in the world the author managed to put Russia and Caucasus together? I hope that was just a typo. In authors defense one could say that Circassians were the first in Caucasus to have contact with the Russians (which has nothing to do with Circassians' origin anyway), but even that event did not take place until late 16th century, years after the Mamluk state fell to the Ottomans, and hundreds of years after Circassians were recruited for the armies of Caliphate.
3rd - "Never particularly renowned for their military skills." - Extremely false! Circassians (as well as other North Caucasians) ARE in fact PARTICULARLY known for military skill. Circassians were (and still are) very well known for chivalry, physical and mental strength, extraordinary endurance, blade fighting and wrestling skills. Also, due to historic reasons (constant attempts of invasion from foreigners) the overall militancy is present in culture of all of Caucasus.
Bottom line, if you have no idea what or who Mamluks were - this book can be used for a basic introduction, if you are aware of inaccuracies.
 |
Title: Saladin and the Saracens Armies of the Middle East 1100-1300 (Men-At-Arms Series, No 171) by David Nicolle ISBN: 0850456827 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: March, 1986 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: The Moors: The Islamic West 7Th-15th Centuries Ad (Men-At-Arms, 348) by David, Ph.D. Nicolle ISBN: 1855329646 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: The Janissaries (Elite, No 58) by David Nicolle, Christa Hook ISBN: 185532413X Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: May, 1995 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: Armies of the Ottoman Turks, 1300-1774 (Men at Arms Series, 140) by David Nicolle ISBN: 0850455111 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: June, 1985 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: The Armies of Islam : 7th-11th Centuries (Men at Arms, 125) by David Nicolle ISBN: 0850454484 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: December, 1984 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
