Arms and Armour

Fülszöveg

Arms and Armour
The history of arms and armour is one of two competing technologies: each improvement in the weapons of attack has been met with a strengthening of the means of defence. This book traces the development of weapons from the earliest stone hand-axes to the sophisticated automatic weapons of today. It alsó telis the story of armour, which began as a simple wooden shield covered with animal skin, reached its zenith with the fifteenth-century knight who was totally encased in steel, was gradually rendered obsolete when firearms replaced the sword, and finally made a comeback in the First World War to protect the soldier against the horrors of the trenches. Due attention is given to weapons and armour of the Third World, which have in the past so often been neglected in studies of this kind. Often beautiful objects in their own right, they have, like their western counter-parts, been replaced by the products of sophisticated industrial technology which has imposed a... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Arms and Armour
The history of arms and armour is one of two competing technologies: each improvement in the weapons of attack has been met with a strengthening of the means of defence. This book traces the development of weapons from the earliest stone hand-axes to the sophisticated automatic weapons of today. It alsó telis the story of armour, which began as a simple wooden shield covered with animal skin, reached its zenith with the fifteenth-century knight who was totally encased in steel, was gradually rendered obsolete when firearms replaced the sword, and finally made a comeback in the First World War to protect the soldier against the horrors of the trenches. Due attention is given to weapons and armour of the Third World, which have in the past so often been neglected in studies of this kind. Often beautiful objects in their own right, they have, like their western counter-parts, been replaced by the products of sophisticated industrial technology which has imposed a world-wide cultural uniformity. This book is illustrated with 80 full-colour and 140 black and white illustrations.
Frederick Wilkinson, a schoolteacher by profession, first became interested in arms and armour in the course of his history studies. He is the author of a number of books and articles on the subject, including The WorldV Great Guns, alsó published by Hamlyn. He is now President of the Arms and Armour Society. Vissza