The Knights of Islam: The Wars of the Mamluks, 1250 - 1517

By James Waterson and John Man

Book Overview

"The author brings together a wealth of information which has, until now, only been available in highly specialized academic journals and scholarly books" - David Nicolle

"An astonishing array of themes and characters" - John Man

The Mamluks were, at one distinct point in history, the greatest body of fighting men in the world and the quintessence of the mounted warrior - reaching near perfection in their skill with the bow, lance and sword.

Their story embraces many of the great themes of medieval military endeavor: the Crusaders and the deadly contest between Islam and Christendom, the Mongols and their vision of World Dominion, Tamerlane the Scourge of God and the rise of the Ottoman Empire whose own slave soldiers, the Janissaries, would be the Mamluks' final nemesis.

They entered the Islamic world as unlettered automatons and through a total application to the craft of the warrior they became more than soldiers. After a bloody seizure of power from their masters, the descendants of Saladin, they developed a martial code and an honor system based on barracks brotherhood, a sophisticated military society that harnessed the state's energies for total war and produced a series of treatises on cavalry tactics, martial training, mounted archery and scientific and analytical approaches to warfare that more than compare to Sun Tzu's Art of War, the Western Codes of Chivalry and the Bushido in their complexity, beauty of language and comprehensive coverage of the bloody business of war.

Their story embraces many of the great themes of medieval military endeavor: the Crusaders and the deadly contest between Islam and Christendom, the Mongols and their vision of world dominion, Tamerlane and the rise of the Ottoman Empire whose own slave soldiers, the Janissaries, would be the Mamluks' final nemesis.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1784387614
• ISBN13: 9781784387617
• Release Date: July 2022
• Publisher: Greenhill Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Interesting Tales of War

What's the difference between 1260 to 2023? Not much. In this historical story The places and names of cities and ethnic groups are familiar to anyone who stays abreast of current world events. I was surprised of the fact that, in my opinion, not much has changed except the sophistication of modern weapons used in a land soaked in blood.