Online Shop
|
Lake Peipus, 1242 (Osprey Military Campaign)Snagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here!  Amazon.co.uk's Price: £13.99 Prices subject to change.Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 355 EAN: 9781855325531 ISBN: 1855325535 Label: Osprey Publishing Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 96 Publication Date: March 15, 1997 Publisher: Osprey Publishing Studio: Osprey Publishing Related Items:
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Lake PeipusThis is arguably the poorest of Osprey's Campaign series. The book is spoiled by a number of errors, especially concerning things peripheral to the battle. For instance, on the map on p.26 the Finnish 'tribes' (Suomi and Hame, the latter Russian "Jem"/"'Em"/"Emi", who were settled peoples and did practice agriculture, contrary to the book's information), are in the wrong areas of Finland, and 'Murman' become a Finnish tribe when the Russian name meant 'Norwegian'. There was no such person as 'Earl Karl Birger': presumably this is an error for Birger (Jarl) Magnusson, who possibly led a Swedish crusade to Finland (for which the only evidence is Erik's Chronicle, a rhyme chronicle written 50-70 years after the event). As regards the battle of 1242 itself, the poor sources are interpreted very freely. There is no good evidence that there were horse archers there, or that Mongols were fighting in Russian armies as early as this. The reference to attacks by archers on the Danes (king's men) might equally refer to foot archery, yet the horse archers become the key to victory in this account. The account is in any case confusing and full of ridiculous speculation, such as the idea that Novgorod chronicle tales of intervention by angels and saints from the heavens may have been a memory of showers of arrows. The number of knights at the battle must have been very small, since the total number of Sword Brothers in 1230 was about 120, 49 had been killed at Saule in 1236, others must have been in garrisons and the Teutonic Knights had not yet exerted their control over Livonia. The epic tale presented here seems to derive as much from Eisenstein's propaganda film as anything else, with Alexander Nevsky the hero. There are, however, a lot of nice pictures in the book, and if it inspires readers to read something better on the subject it has some value. Rating:  - Very good introduction into a little known Medieval conflictThe legend of Alexander Nevsky has been a popular focus for nationalism in such works as Eisenstein's film of the same name. David Nicholle puts the struggle between the Teutonic Knights and the Russians of Novgorod. He debunks many of the myths surrounding this albeit epic battle and looks at the context of the conflict. The maps are to Osprey's usually high standard whilst Angus McBride brings the whole book alive by his superb artistic plates.  Try searching the Internet for "Lake Peipus, 1242 (Osprey Military Campaign)" or Ebay for "Lake Peipus, 1242 (Osprey Military Campaign)". You might also be interested in the following great products:
|