The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow (Weapons in by Hugh D. H. Soar

"Spendidly enthusiastic. . . . Soar's publication is indispensable."—Bernard Cornwell

"A interesting research of a forgotten weapon. . . . for hundreds of years the longbow ruled conflict, affecting the fates of nations" - Wall highway Journal

"Bowyers, bowhunters, goal archers and scholars of archery background may still all locate reason for occasion with Hugh Soar's concise yet authoritative text." - conventional Bowhunter

On a transparent July morning in 1346, a small strength approached the partitions of Caen for conflict. The attackers rode to the sphere on horseback, banners and pennants fluttering within the mild breeze. at the back of them marched bowmen in tightly ranked devices. on the sound of a crisp conflict horn, they halted. A twinge of apprehension rippled during the hundreds of thousands of Norman defenders as they regarded down on the opposing military, for precision archery formation had lengthy considering the fact that disappeared as an army suggestion in medieval France. right here used to be now not the anticipated rabble of unrated bucolics cowed by way of the may well of France; confronting them used to be a quietly made up our minds team of knowledgeable squaddies armed now not with the well-known arbalest yet with a brand new and unusual weapon of significant size. The defenders of Caen have been approximately to fulfill the English struggle bow and its lethal conflict shaft. For the following a hundred years, this weapon, the "crooked stick," may command continental battlefields, etching its fearsome attractiveness at Crécy, Poitiers, Agincourt, and Verneuil, whereas setting up England as a global energy for the 1st time.

Although the longbow is healthier recognized for its deployment through the Hundred Years' warfare, its origins lie with historic Saxon seafighters and Welsh craftsmen, whereas this present day the bow is a colourful a part of the normal archery scene. In The Crooked Stick: A heritage of the Longbow, historian Hugh D. H. leap pulls jointly all of those strings, providing the attractive tale of this so much charismatic standoff weapon. After a cautious attention of Neolithic bows and arrows, the writer describes the bow's use within the medieval hunt and its linked customs. The longbow made its private mark in struggle, despite the fact that, and the writer follows the weapon's improvement and tactical deployment from the hand-bow of William the Conqueror's campaigns to the continental set-piece battles among England and France. even though infantrymen reluctantly gave up the longbow for firearms, its leisure use turned immensely renowned, relatively in the course of the Regency and Victorian sessions. within the 20th century it seemed as though the longbow could disappear into the fog of legend, yet a brand new curiosity in conventional craft and services won carry, and the excitement of utilizing this historic software is now firmly a part of archery round the world.

Through a awesome command of manuscript and revealed resources and a really appropriate use of fabric proof, together with his personal vital selection of infrequent longbows, Hugh leap establishes the deep connections of this bow to England, Scotland, and Wales. Figures some time past like William Wallace, Edward III, and Henry V look along special descriptions of bows, strings, arrows, and arrowheads, whereas the increase of associations and craftsmen dedicated to the longbow are offered to teach how wisdom of this weapon was once carried ahead around the centuries. this present day, these within the game of archery and army historians will locate that The Crooked Stick will improve their very own pursuits in a weapon of mythical status.

In addition to the illustrated textual content, the booklet comprises appendices detailing the heritage and layout of bracers, tabs and information, quivers, and arrowheads linked to the longbow.