[Archers] Book Reveiw: THE GREAT WARBOW

[Garth Groff]

Noble friends,

I just picked up my copy of THE GREAT WARBOW, FROM HASTINGS TO THE MARY 
ROSE by Matthew Strickland and Robert Hardy (Haynes Publishing Co., ISBN 
9780857330901: 35 Pounds sterling, $57.95 US). As some of you noted, 
this monster books is a reprint of the 2005 edition by Sutton. The book 
is huge, at 538 pages and 26 x 23 cm.

I have only had a few minutes to skim through the text, but it appears 
to be the most complete book yet on the history of English archery, a 
fitting successor to Hardy's own LONGBOW, once considered the last word 
on the subject. Likely the work in hand will be the definitive text for 
years to come.

The text flows smoothly, a relief for such a broad and somewhat 
technical subject. Not surprisingly, the book is chronological, and 
covers the use of archery in almost every major English battle up to 
1545. I was pleased to see that sections gave excellent accounts of 
Scottish archers as well, detailing their employment by Robert the Bruce 
during his campaigns. There is more information about Scots archery in 
this book than I have been able to scrape together in four years of 
reading. The book also discusses the French response to English archers 
in good detail, including information on Charles VII's archery corps 
(many of whom were Scots), and sections on archers in the Burgundian and 
other armies. I noticed a view of the English mercenary Sir John 
Hawkwood's famous funeral painting (he left money for an elaborately 
carved tomb, but the Italians were satisfied with the painted study and 
pocked the difference), so I suspect some archery in Italy is also 
covered. No doubt I will find a lot more surprises as I start a serious 
read of the book.

The whole book is lavishly illustrated with period engravings and 
illuminations, plus many modern photographs, and nearly all the art is 
in colour. Some famous illustrations have been used in previous books, 
usually in black-and-white. Even so, the repeated material is a small 
percentage of the staggering total. There are maps too, lots of them.

This books is a must-have for every SCA archer, even if it is the only 
book on archery you ever buy. If you don't reenact an English persona, 
the history, technical details, and images, will still keep you 
interested for many pleasurable evenings. I strongly suggest you order 
up a copy now, as this is the sort of book that isn't likely to be 
reprinted again for many years.

Kind regards,


Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir Target Archery Marshal
(aka Garth Groff, Cataloger, UVA Library System)