Christopher Marshall CUP A sequel to R.C.Smail's book on the first part of the crusading era. While not an exciting read this book is a mine of information. A brief overview of the period takes us through the Fifth Crusade (against Damietta), St Louis, Sultan Baybars the Bunduqari, the Cypriot wars up to the fall of Acre. The size and provenance of Latin armies is recounted, as well as that of their fortresses. The shortage of local manpower and its supplementation by less experienced and transitory Crusader forces being a key feature. The conduct of operations are divided into three areas: Battles, Raids and Sieges. For each category a great deal of information has been collected and summarised. The interrelationship of the three strands of military action is also clearly demonstrated, and it is raids (in my view) that hold the other two together. Medieval warfare was Raids, Raids and Raids only when they were done might the Siege arise and this in turn often caused the battle. For each category there are exhaustive lists (with sources) of the various battles, raids and sieges. A very useful book. More Book Corner: Hot Blood & Cold Steel The Rules of the Game Philip II Importing the European Army War and Society in early Modern Europe 1495-1715 First Punic War Warfare in the Latin East 1192-1291 Spanish Naval Power 1589 to 1665 The Anatomy of Glory The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading The Kaiser Time to Kill First World War The Military Revolution Debate Pallas Armata titles Back to Perfidious Albion #95 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com