04-21-2011, 10:23 PM
Hi
I received the book last week but have not had time to read through it yet. In any case there are many better qualified here on RAT than I am, to comment on the construction and use of armour. However, naturally I have looked at the illustrations.
The dust jacket is a bit startling to say the least! While the front cover shows a re-enactor in plate armour the figure on the back... well, is something else! Both are overlaid over an image of the Ermine Street Guard. I guess the authors did not have too much say over what goes on their cover!
I was expecting some photos of arrows and spears etc.. penetrating armour (or not) but there were none. Also as my own book is well known to the authors Chester group I was hoping for a discussion on my suggestions for possible designs of the subarmalis but again there was nothing, No pictures of any reconstructed subarmalis either. I would have liked to have known if any designs were more practical than others. There was also no mention of Mike Bishops's article on the subarmalis which gives an explanation of how a padded garment would raise the front plates to angle each other rather than overlap as they do without such a garment underneath.
There was no mention at all of the Newstead lorica re-construction by Arik Greenburg or the first article on reconstructed mail by Mike Garlick. Both could have been discussed for their various merits or otherwise.
The colour painted re-constructions do not add much to the book. In my opinion they merely seem to be there to add weight to the claim that the book covers a wide time frame. I am not sure why the illustrations of Scythians are there when other subjects would have been more suitable. There does not appear to be anything other than the brief caption to explain what the paintings show, what evidence they are based on or why those particular examples were chosen. I would rather have seen more detailed close up colour pictures of the authors reconstruction of the Kalkriese armour being worn!
Re-enactors constantly seem to harp on about leather bracers in movies so it is surprising to see them on more than one re-construction here. The suggestion that they appear on various monuments is generally discounted and that what is shown are metal military awards which in any case are smaller than bracers. In the example of the cavalry what appears around the wrists again has been interpreted as military awards or tunic cuffs and in either case they are not shaped like bracers. The re-construction of the archer follows the 'Syrian' type whose ethnicity and form of dress is discredited by Coulston.
The black and white line drawings are excellent but many of those depicting ancient sources are probably familiar if you already have the Robinson, Bishop and Coulston or Stephenson books.
What is really a great pity is that the authors appear to disagree with previous re-constructions of Corbridge type armours. Therefore some re-constructions, painted or otherwise of what they feel is a correct interpretation of the Corbridge armours would have been both very useful and illuminating.
The photographs of the Chester group themselves with one exception again do not show a great deal of detail of their armour. The Chester re-enactors probably wear kit for longer periods than many others and I bet they have a great deal of experience of the wear and tear of the armour and equipment and tales to tell. They are great characters but at least from an illustration point of view I do not feel this book does them any justice.
It would appear therefore that the chief strength of this book is not in the tip of the iceberg but in what lies beneath, in the main discussion on the construction and demonstration of the merits of various types of armour. The text appears to be far more weighty than what the illustrations would have us believe. So therefore I await the comments of others, in particular Mike Bishop, with eager anticipation.
Graham.
I received the book last week but have not had time to read through it yet. In any case there are many better qualified here on RAT than I am, to comment on the construction and use of armour. However, naturally I have looked at the illustrations.
The dust jacket is a bit startling to say the least! While the front cover shows a re-enactor in plate armour the figure on the back... well, is something else! Both are overlaid over an image of the Ermine Street Guard. I guess the authors did not have too much say over what goes on their cover!
I was expecting some photos of arrows and spears etc.. penetrating armour (or not) but there were none. Also as my own book is well known to the authors Chester group I was hoping for a discussion on my suggestions for possible designs of the subarmalis but again there was nothing, No pictures of any reconstructed subarmalis either. I would have liked to have known if any designs were more practical than others. There was also no mention of Mike Bishops's article on the subarmalis which gives an explanation of how a padded garment would raise the front plates to angle each other rather than overlap as they do without such a garment underneath.
There was no mention at all of the Newstead lorica re-construction by Arik Greenburg or the first article on reconstructed mail by Mike Garlick. Both could have been discussed for their various merits or otherwise.
The colour painted re-constructions do not add much to the book. In my opinion they merely seem to be there to add weight to the claim that the book covers a wide time frame. I am not sure why the illustrations of Scythians are there when other subjects would have been more suitable. There does not appear to be anything other than the brief caption to explain what the paintings show, what evidence they are based on or why those particular examples were chosen. I would rather have seen more detailed close up colour pictures of the authors reconstruction of the Kalkriese armour being worn!
Re-enactors constantly seem to harp on about leather bracers in movies so it is surprising to see them on more than one re-construction here. The suggestion that they appear on various monuments is generally discounted and that what is shown are metal military awards which in any case are smaller than bracers. In the example of the cavalry what appears around the wrists again has been interpreted as military awards or tunic cuffs and in either case they are not shaped like bracers. The re-construction of the archer follows the 'Syrian' type whose ethnicity and form of dress is discredited by Coulston.
The black and white line drawings are excellent but many of those depicting ancient sources are probably familiar if you already have the Robinson, Bishop and Coulston or Stephenson books.
What is really a great pity is that the authors appear to disagree with previous re-constructions of Corbridge type armours. Therefore some re-constructions, painted or otherwise of what they feel is a correct interpretation of the Corbridge armours would have been both very useful and illuminating.
The photographs of the Chester group themselves with one exception again do not show a great deal of detail of their armour. The Chester re-enactors probably wear kit for longer periods than many others and I bet they have a great deal of experience of the wear and tear of the armour and equipment and tales to tell. They are great characters but at least from an illustration point of view I do not feel this book does them any justice.
It would appear therefore that the chief strength of this book is not in the tip of the iceberg but in what lies beneath, in the main discussion on the construction and demonstration of the merits of various types of armour. The text appears to be far more weighty than what the illustrations would have us believe. So therefore I await the comments of others, in particular Mike Bishop, with eager anticipation.
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
