Osprey Men-at-Arms 184

Polish Armies 1569-1696 (1)

by Tom McMillen

Text by Richard Brzezinski, plates by Angus McBride. Put simply, this is the finest edition in the Osprey series to date. The text - chronology, description of troop types, organization - is lucid and to the point, while the black and white illustrations, which in kindred titles sometimes seem little more than filler, are all useful and interesting as well, including museum pieces of Hussar wings, Pancerni armor, etc. The color plates are truly spectacular, with polar bear horse tcappings, horses dyed half white, half red, gilded or brass ornamentation on almost all armor, and eagle feathers and leopard skins everywhere. (The burning question of where they found those tens of thousands of leopards in Poland remains unanswered.)

Mr. McBride shows even more than his usual flair and imagination from the stolid, stoic, somewhat stupid looking Slavic peasantry to the Hussar frozen to death in the saddle as incredulous ownsfolk poke at him. As explained in the text, the Hussars went to extraordinary lengths to outdo each other in grandeur of appearance,an attitude that carried over into the boyars, Pancerni, etc., as well. Such martial panache is well captured in this fine little book. Osprey books are generally available at your local hobby store. The only price I have is f4.50. When this price was £ 3.95 they listed for $7.95 in the U.S., so figure on $9.00.

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