Starting in the 1100’s, the The History of Armour 1100-1700 book looks at the development of armour from chain mail to plate and beyond. The book is well laid out and easy on the eye. There are both hundreds of photos of effigies wearing armour, photos of manuscripts depicting armour as well as modern images of sections and how it would work.

Being fairly new to armour, I found the book very useful in explaining terms and how it all fits together. It is also great in that it shows the development of pieces over time. I didn’t think about armour being so important in the 1700 but the book clearly shows armour of the ECW period.

The book is broken down into sections of the body and how armour was developed for specific uses.

I also didn’t see Elizabethan period as being armoured – I blame Blackadder for that to be honest. So it was eye opening as well.

There is a great section on weapons of the period. Again the development of weaponry goes hand in hand with the development of armour. It is almost attritional, the levels and speed of change of armour, then weapons.

There is an interesting piece on armoured horses as well as the development of the spur. Not a cowboy is sight.

This is a great book for anyone interested in the various periods the book covers – which is basically Norman to English Civil War.   I can also see a use for re-enactors as one thing I see in a lot of re-enactment forums right now, are how groups deal with authenticity issues. This book can be a great assistance in helping anyone in these periods.

It is also useful to have at shows, so when these issues arise, at least you can show where your logic and research has come from. This is an excellent book for that. It is an a4 hardback book but quite light so easy to drop in your kit bag.

You can buy the book on Amazon

Please note I was not paid to write this review but was sent a review copy of the book. All comments are my own and the publishers have not amended the review in any way.