Medieval World FORUM
East Roman MAA title
Mr Mac
Dear Osprey, I have been a long time fan, my stack of Osprey books has grown considerably since I became a fan around five years ago. Looking at my collection, I noticed I have quite a theme going on: Dark Age history. Most noticeably, the history of Eastern Rome. I have a number of titles, ranging from Byzantine Cavalryman @ Byzantine Infantryman, to Byzantine Armies 886-1100.
However, I feel that there has been a resurgent interest in East Rome since 2008--people are becoming interested in the "lesser" Rome and this makes sense. As people sense we are living in a shadow of our previous wealth, they're curious about a civilization that underwent a recession--albeit a far more devastating one--before falling to external forces.
Although I commend all authors on their efforts, including Ian Heath and Timothy Dawson (whose dual series I enjoyed) I am excited for Amato's upcoming Varangian Guard book. I have bought Amato's book as an import--it's very rare stateside and Amato has such a massive wealth of knowledge that I was completely unaware existed. So I am doubly excited for his upcoming book, and coupled with Guiseppe Rava's illustrations, this excitement is at a fever pitch.
However, I would like to see more books on East Roman armies--especially books done by Amato and Rava as team. The illustrations released look absolutely stunning, and Amato has tremendous wealth of knowledge on the subject that could cast new light on the subject to a predominantly anglo-sphere audience.
To that end, I would really like to see several new Men At Arms titles focused around East Rome's early and middle periods.
If I may suggest a few titles:
Armies of Justinian 475-535
Armies of Heraculies 600-41
Dark Age Roman Armies 650-860
Resurgent Roman Armies 880-1100
Forgive the rather poor attempt at titles, but I feel that each title would allow both the author and artist to explore a number of nuances both in terms of armor and armament in each period to the fullest extent possible.
I hope to see at least some of the suggested titles come to fruition and I wish everyone at Osprey the best of luck!
Cheers,
Mr Mac
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RESPONSES
| crimean |
1
There does seem to be a resurgent interest in Byzantine (East Roman) conflicts. I have suggested similar titles in previous posts, and the ones suggested here are good ones. The campaigns conducted by Justinian and Heraclius nearly brought the Roman Empire back to his former glory, and these would make great campaign books, with fantastic art.
Posted: 06-Mar-2010 15:37
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| Mr Mac |
2
Thanks for your comment, but I think there have been several books and publications on the subject of campaigns, and at this point, I feel that both Peter Dennis and Guiseppe Rava are able to capture both detail and a sense of action in their illustrations without sacrificing attention to detail.
While I usually loved Angus McBride's work, his illustrations on the battle of Yamurk disappointed me--all the East Romans' seemed to have been copy and pasted with identical kits and plumage.
I feel that variety is not only necessary, but the reality--these armies did not have standardized armor, and in fact not even the Roman Armies of antiquity did, contrary to popular thought.
So moral of the story, I'd much prefer Men at Arms and Warriors series.
Posted: 07-Mar-2010 18:36
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