As the title "Art of War" indicates, this isn't a history of campaigns and battles per se but the evolution of military strategy, tactics and weapons in this period. The overarching theme is the ascendancy and eclipse of the armored horseman which began as the need to find have a force of mobile, professional soldiers to deal with the Vikings and the Magyars. This first phase culminates in the battle of Hastings where a mounted army defeated an infantry army. It goes on to cover the decline of the armored horseman. This showed up in the victories of the English longbow and infantry armies and in pike formations of the Swiss. Several key battles are mentioned as examples of the various types of battle (cavalry vs. infantry, cavalry and infantry vs. cavalry, etc.). Of interest is the lack of strategic sense in Western Europe, Prince Edward's Evesham campaign being a rare exception. A close look is also taken at the Byzantine system which was marked by a pragmatic and flexible adaptation to the different tactical systems of their potential enemies. Discussion also covers the armies of the Vikings, Saracens and Magyars, et al. There are also chapters in each chronological period covering developments in arms and armor and in fortification and siege craft. I have two criticisms of the work. The first is his chapter on the Mongols. Oman writes off the Mongols' victories in Europe as being due to the disunity of the Europeans and Mongolian numerical superiority. In fact, Genghis Khan organized a first-rate military system marked by the use of maneuver and exercised by disciplined troops that was later led by capable heirs (see the discussion the Mongols in Dupuy and Dupuy's Encyclopedia of Military History). At Liegnitz, contrary to being outnumbered fivefold, Henry the Pious had numerical parity with the Mongol force. King Bela's army at the Sajo River was about equal to Subotai's force. I'm also a little dubious about his assertion that gunpowder wasn't of Chinese origin. None of his examples arguing that Chinese weapons were actually incendiaries address the claim that the Chinese used gunpowder in firecrackers (thus, they may not have been the first to find a military application for gunpowder). Those two areas, however, are only a small portion of the work which is well-written and well worth the time of anyone interested in the subject.

This two part set is very detailed and explains everythig well. It is not, however a referance book. It reads very well, but has a tendancy to drag at parts. Any one with an interest in ancient war should certainly check this out.

These two volumes present an enormous amount of information and analysis, well-organized and well-written. Working directly from primary sources, Sir Charles Oman has reconstructed innumerable details and outlines of this extremely poorly-documented period. It is not a novel, to be read once, but a reference, to be gone back to again and again. (In fact, it's mildly irritating that Oman refers throughout the first volume to a battle descibed only on the last pages.) The author appears to be on a first-name basis with all the chroniclers with whom he has to deal, a depth of knowledge which is necessary to decide which of several contradictory accounts to accept. It's like a series of long discussions with a master scholar, over port in his rooms in College. He does prefer you to be something of a scholar yourself: footnotes in Latin, Greek, French, and whatnot are not translated (annoying, but not a major problem). The subject has moved on greatly since the time these were published, and some of Oman's conclusions and ideas are now known to be wrong, but these works still define the Medieval art of war.

This book is a decent book for those being taking a freshman physics course for non-majors. This is a good supplement to a calculus based physics textbook.

it's a good book, it helped a great deal. I wish time was taken to correct typographical errors. I lost valuable time that could have been used to study.

this is a very good book except there are some mistakes(but the mistakes are easily found and corrected by yourself). This book gives you how to attack problems in a very organized manner even though the problems are not so difficult. I came to be able to solve more challenging problems in a different book after solving the easy but organized ones in this book. I recommend this book!

Well written and interesting, but very outdated. You're better off with Keen's new _Medieval Warfare_ or Verbruggen or R.C. Smail (Crusading Warfare) or France's new book.

This is an excellent and fascinating work. I highly recomend it for anyone interested in warfare, the middle ages, or both. It is full of well-researched insights and synthesizes and provides a broad general framework for understanding warfare in this period. Serious scholars or those seeking to use this as a textbook should note that the original version that forms the basis of this book was written a century ago and is probably outdated, despite the rewritten portions. However, the greatest strength of this book is that it is extraordinarily well-written, and a pleasure to read.

Oman provides an excellent, well-researched look at the arms, tactics, and strategies of various medieval armies. He covers the rise of the era of heavy calvary, and describes how it was replaced by the English longbow and the Swiss pikeman. His discussion of the various battlefield tactics unique to each army, as illustrated through maps of many of the major battles, proves both informative and entertaining. This is by far the most "readable" and authoritative book on the subject I have read to date.

An excellent and informative book on an interesting example of both how to and how not to conduct counter-insurgency operations. A good book for historians, travelers, military men and for those that wish to explore a great British success.

If the history, ground, tactics and personalities of a distant conflict interest you, then you'll really enjoy this book. John Akehurst commanded an independant brigade of Omani and Baluch troops in a tough but successful campaign against Communist rebels in Dhofar in Southern Oman. Together with the larger picture is a wealth of detail which brings the account to life. One such being when the Brigadier and his wife were shot down in their helicopter while visiting British officers in isolated forward positions one Christmas day. This conflict is almost unknown, but it's successful outcome laid the foundation for the peace and stability of the Gulf nations.

First published in Britain in 1994 A Country Life is a collection of the authors personal memories and experiences a number of which appeared as regular column pieces in Country Life magazine between 1989 and 1994.

Following the seasons it is a glorious portrait of the rural way of life of Roy Strong former Director of the V&A and his wife Julia Trevelyan Oman who provides the delightful pen and ink illustrations.

The scene is set by an essay Strong wrote for Hortus in 1992 in which he describes their house The Laskett in Herefordshire.

She becomes alive every time I read it. I had a lot of help from Julia. I really like the part were in just two years she becomes a married woman, the queen of two countrys, and a widow.

John Hall has written perhaps the most complete record of casualties of British and Allied Officers caused by actions in the Iberian Peninsula during the "period". His sources are impeccably presented and must be of great value to military students of the war in that theatre. Being given permission to attach this work to the definitive overall history by Charles Oman is sufficient acceptance in itself to guarantee its place on the shelves of the most august military libraries, however, it must be said that a similar work coming from the "enemy" of the time, "Listes des officers tues et blesses pendant les Guerres de l'Empire" by M Martinien, was in continuous use by Sir Charles throughout his own mammoth compilation, and , although often remarked upon by that author as being "invaluable" was never elevated beyond that rather minor appellation. That criticism apart this work has such a wealth of hitherto "hard to find" information, so easily made accessible, that it would be churlish to deny the author his laurels. The collective history of the war in the Peninsula then has just made a modest leap foward through this publication.

As a small person (4'10"), I have always had a fondness for small countries. As a geographer, I enjoy knowing about places most people have never heard of. And as a veteran armchair traveller... Well, this book could hardly miss with me. Edward Fox sets out to explore the mysteries of royalty by visiting a half-dozen small, non-European kingdoms and attempting to meet their respective kings, with varying success. Dressed in his official king-meeting costume of a blue Brooks Brothers suit and tie, Fox meets with royal responses that cover the spectrum: casual affability in Tonga, fierce hostility in Swaziland, democratic divinity on Java. Meeting King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga was a snap. Fox simply made an appointment for an interview. He could also observe the King on His Majesty's daily royal bicycle ride cum motorcade. On the other hand, he spent weeks chasing after Sultan Qaboos of Oman as the King made tours and military inspections up and down his nation. Finally Fox gave up hope of an interview, contenting himself with a bow and a limp handshake in a receiving line. Fox met a fair number of Yourba kings, of whom there are roughly 700 in all of Nigeria. Having lost their temporal power to the central government, they are primarily leaders of traditional Yourba religion. Yet kings are usually chosen on the basis of wealth and professional background, not for their knowledge of and belief in these traditions. The Ataoja of Oshogbo was a well-educated, devout Muslim, and thus found himself caught in a serious spiritual dilemma. Besides his own religious duties, his daughter was required by tradition to be high priestess of Oshun, the Yourba Venus, and preside at the goddess's annual festival. Another Royal Annoyance was an Austrian sculptress and sincere devotee of the Yourba gods who, during her 40-year residence in Oshogbo has made the town the cultural capital of Yourba, turned Oshun's grove into a sculpture garden, and erected (if you'll pardon the expression) an ithyphallic statue on the palace grounds. Not the sort of decoration a pious Muslim usually wants to see in his front yard. A monarch's lot is not a happy one! Swaziland turned out to be downright hostile. On his request for an interview, Fox was told, "I have just been in England. I didn't see the Queen Mother. Do you think I could have seen the Queen Mother just like that?" The author's only sight of King Mswati II was at the performance of a long, boring public ritual ("Take your hands out of your pockets and stand still!" he was scolded after about two hours). But he did manage to meet Maja II, king of the Mamba clan, whose ancestor was given royal title and dignity by Mswati II's ancestor in 1819. Most Swazis don't know he exists, and the Mamba kingship is omitted from all official Swazi histories. Fox met Maja II at His Anonomyous Majesty's butcher shop, where they had a chat and a smoke, and Fox took a photo of the King posing beside his pickup truck. Fox's last royal pilgrimage was to the island of Java and Hamengkubuwono X, Sultan of Yogyakarta, whose kingship has become entirely spiritual. As a disciple hoping to be accepted by a guru, Fox knew his quest would require patience. He moved into a hotel where no one spoke English, took no tourist excursions, bought no souvenirs, and settled down to read "War and Peace" while waiting for his contacts to turn something up. Step by step, contact by contact, Fox closed in on his goal: a highly formal interview, with interpreter, in which the Sultan was as democratic as he could manage. He wasn't exactly Maja II with his pickup, but he went so far as to acknowledge and show interest in Fox's gift, which is more than the cycling Taufa'ahau of Tonga did. Our last glimpse of Hamengkubuwono X is of His Majesty enthusiastically playing soccer in the rain, and afterward handing out gifts of soccer balls and jerseys to his subjects and fellow-players.

Published in 1967 during the reign of the backwards and reclusive Sultan bin Taimur, Oman: A History, gives a picture of the country from prehistoric times onward. It is divided into the chapters, "The Dawn of Oman", "The Omani Empire in Africa", "The Albu Said Dynasty is founded", "Said the Great", "Said and the Slave Trade", "Murder, Slavery, and Rebellion", "Time of Troubles and the Buraimi Dispute", and "Revolt on the Green Mountain" and 3 short appendixes, "Christianity in Arabia", "Unveiling the Past" and "the Zanzibar Revolution". The book stresses the origins of Oman and the seemingly unstable rule of law which maintained stability through the strength of the Sultans of the Al Bu Said dynasty and their excellent statecraft and fair dealings in foreign and domestic affairs. The foreign aspect is also stressed in descriptions of trans-oceanic transport which Oman was largely dependant on, and the incredible might of its navel power for a country of its size, which has played such an important role in its history. The demise of Portuguese and Persian rule are discussed as well, reflecting the strong national identity based around Oman's unique form of Islam, (Ibadhi) which is crucial to understanding Oman. The great profits, and even greater evils, of the East African slave trade are covered in depth as well as Oman's rule of slaving colonies on the Swahili coast with grew to rival Oman itself in influence. Unfortunately, it ends three years before the most important event in Omani history, the coming to power of Qaboos bin Said, who single handedly transformed the country into a modern state based on oil revenues, brought it out of diplomatic and social isolation, and vastly improved the lives of the Omanis. The book's unique value lies primarily in that it is the last expert view of Oman when it was still terra incognita to the rest of the world.

During the early modern period Oman held a key position in the trade routes whereby the Muslim world dominated indigenous trade in the Indian Ocean. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Oman broke free from foreign political control and became the dominant economic and naval force in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf. This was a golden Age for Omanis, when their economic power and political prestige were at their height. This study presents a detailed comprehensive history of this important period, and includes tribal politics, the role of religion and Oman's relations with neighboring areas such as Peris and East Africa. The era ends with the political and maritime pressures exerted on Oman by Britain and France and the territoral pressures exerted by the Wahhabi Arabians. Patricia Risso is Assistant Professor in the Dept of History at Illinois State University.