David Nicolle

Know your weapons, know your enemy: a mamluk training manual

From the 8th century to the 16th mamluks formed the core of most Muslim armies. The Arabic word meant a soldier originally bought as a slave, educated and trained and finally released as a full-time professional. Mamluk tactics, organisation ...

The Blue and the Grey in Egypt

Like many Asian and African rulers, Muhammad Ali (1805—1848), ruler of Egypt, and his grandson Ismail (1863—79) believed that the only way to resist 19th-century Western imperialism was by a wholesale adoption of Western technology and military systems...

Failure of an Elite - The Genoese at Crécy

The most widespread version of the battle of Crécy in the English speaking world describes the battle as a victory of steadfast English longbowmen over hopelessly outclassed Genoese crossbowmen, after which ...

Moors against Majus

For a period of just over 130 years two very different cultures, their geographical and ethnic origins far apart, clashed at the outer limits of their respective territories, the open sea and coastlines of the Iberian peninsular and North Africa their battleground...

French Fortification in the Age of Chivalry

The building of fortifications revived in France during the 9th century, particularly in northern and western areas exposed to Viking attack. By the end of the 10th century the homes of most local lords were fortified...