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Rating: 
Summary: A delight to read. History, society, technology.
Review: A wonderful book. You may remember Mr Hardy as 'Seigfried' in the show 'All Creatures Great and Small'. Well he can write up a storm and enthrall you while educating you in medieval history, metallurgy, and the glories of the Longbow. This is a book to cherish. You will never think of armour as lumps of silly iron again, and he brings the Longbow to life. If you can read, you will enjoy this - and there's some great pictures too!
Rating: 
Summary: "Longbow" a vivid window on medieval war.
Review: Robert Hardy's "Longbow" is written with passion and verve. As a result, it is a delight to read. An erudite man, Hardy is sometimes rather intricate in his writing style. But the elegant phrasing Mr. Hardy favors is nonetheless precise and well-crafted. Once the ear becomes accustomed to the music of his language, it becomes a source of delight in itself. Hardy cannot be faulted on the research for this book. An acknowledged expert on the origins and use of the longbow, he has traced the weapon from prehistory and documents its use in the hunt, as a weapon of war, and in sport. However, much of the book concerns the longbow in the great medieval battles of Agincourt and Crecy, in which Welsh bowmen proved the superiority of the yew bow in combat. But this is more than a simple recitation of the facts of the battles. Hardy has also looked at the men who wielded the longbow, how they were trained, how they lived, and how they were supplied. Such information makes history come alive. The latest edition of the book includes new information on the archeological finds associated with the Mary Rose, a warship dating from Henry VIII's time, which went down in the Solent in the sixteenth century. Excavated during the 80's, the longbows recovered from the wreck revised many of the notions held about this weapon and its making. One interesting finding was that the draw weights for some of the Mary Rose bows were roughly twice that estimated for similar bows of the time in earlier research. Robert Hardy served as a consultant on this project and brings this first-hand knowledge to bear very effectively in his book. The book's usefulness is evident when you cruise the Internet and look at the number of archery web sites which quote the book or recommend it as a reference. Invariably, it is cited as a first-rate resource for those interested in the history/making of these weapons. But even for those of us who are simple armchair historians it is a wonderfully intelligent and fullbodied read.
Rating:
Summary: An exhaustive study of a key weapon in English history
Review: The author provides detailed research on the longbow from prehistory to the present. This book is a must for any student of the Hundred years War! As an avid archer I was quite happy for all the technical information on the art of bowmaking. As a devotee of medieval history I was thrilled by Hardy's scientific analysis of the bowstaves found on the wreck of the Mary Rose. A well written and thoroughly researched book.
Rating:
Summary: An exhaustive study of a key weapon in English history
Review: The author provides detailed research on the longbow from prehistory to the present. This book is a must for any student of the Hundred years War! As an avid archer I was quite happy for all the technical information on the art of bowmaking. As a devotee of medieval history I was thrilled by Hardy's scientific analysis of the bowstaves found on the wreck of the Mary Rose. A well written and thoroughly researched book.
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