Mongols, Huns & Vikings

Rating:
Summary: Armies in Search of a Country
Review: Hugh Kennedy's "Mongols, Huns & Vikings" is the latest installment of Casell's History of Warfare series, a multi-volume collection edited by the Britsh historian John Keegan. The book is a bit mistitled--Arabs and Turks command more of the author's attention than, say, the Vikings--but it is still an interesting survey of nomad warfare in the Dark and Middle Ages.

Kennedy explains why, for 1,000 years, the nomads were so successful in their wars against civilization. They had incredible mobility, so that they could outmaneuver their opponents in battle. If things went badly, they could quickly vanish into the desert, steppes or ocean from which they had come. They were very tough and lived off the land, so they did not need long supply lines. They had capable leaders, who led because of their skills rather than because they were members of an established nobility. And they were an army in search of a country: every male in the nomad population was likely to be a skilled warrior, whether that meant firing an arrow from the back of a pony or swinging a sword on the deck of a ship.

For nearly 1,000 years, the nomads threatened the civilized world. But though they were very successful, surprisingly little is known about them: it may be true that history is written by the victors, but it is just as often the case that history is written by the people who can write. Because nomad societies tended to be illiterate, their history was usually told by their horrified victims.

And their victims had plenty to be horrified about. As Kennedy makes clear, the Mongols, Huns and Vikings had a very well-deserved reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness. The nomad threat began to wane only with the emergence of gunpowder weapons, which could not be easily obtained by nomads but could be produced in abundance by stable societies.

"Mongols, Huns and Vikings" is a reasonably well written, informative and well-illustrated survey of the rise and fall of the nomad warriors. The battle maps, in particular, are quite well done and very clearly lay out what is known about how several decisive battles were fought. ...

Rating:
Summary: Armies in Search of a Country
Review: Hugh Kennedy's "Mongols, Huns & Vikings" is the latest installment of Casell's History of Warfare series, a multi-volume collection edited by the Britsh historian John Keegan. The book is a bit mistitled--Arabs and Turks command more of the author's attention than, say, the Vikings--but it is still an interesting survey of nomad warfare in the Dark and Middle Ages.

Kennedy explains why, for 1,000 years, the nomads were so successful in their wars against civilization. They had incredible mobility, so that they could outmaneuver their opponents in battle. If things went badly, they could quickly vanish into the desert, steppes or ocean from which they had come. They were very tough and lived off the land, so they did not need long supply lines. They had capable leaders, who led because of their skills rather than because they were members of an established nobility. And they were an army in search of a country: every male in the nomad population was likely to be a skilled warrior, whether that meant firing an arrow from the back of a pony or swinging a sword on the deck of a ship.

For nearly 1,000 years, the nomads threatened the civilized world. But though they were very successful, surprisingly little is known about them: it may be true that history is written by the victors, but it is just as often the case that history is written by the people who can write. Because nomad societies tended to be illiterate, their history was usually told by their horrified victims.

And their victims had plenty to be horrified about. As Kennedy makes clear, the Mongols, Huns and Vikings had a very well-deserved reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness. The nomad threat began to wane only with the emergence of gunpowder weapons, which could not be easily obtained by nomads but could be produced in abundance by stable societies.

"Mongols, Huns and Vikings" is a reasonably well written, informative and well-illustrated survey of the rise and fall of the nomad warriors. The battle maps, in particular, are quite well done and very clearly lay out what is known about how several decisive battles were fought. ...

Rating:
Summary: Nice survey, well illustrated
Review: In this large format book, Kennedy gives us basic overviews of how some nomadic societies dominated neighbors through their proficiency in war. He covers Attila and the Huns, the Arabs during their period of expansion, the Turks, Genghis Khan and the Mongols, and, strangely, the Vikings. Kennedy tells us that all adult male nomads were potential warriors; there were no civilians in these societies. He gives particular attention to the Mongols, devoting two chapters to them but only one each to the other groups. The chapter on the Vikings seems somewhat out of place, as they were not nomadic.

Most readers will gain new insights from these surveys. Kennedy's writing is fluid and readable, though not elegant. The book is well illustrated with color plates, colored maps, and black and white drawings. The maps of key battles are particularly well done.

Rating:
Summary: Nice survey, well illustrated
Review: In this large format book, Kennedy gives us basic overviews of how some nomadic societies dominated neighbors through their proficiency in war. He covers Attila and the Huns, the Arabs during their period of expansion, the Turks, Genghis Khan and the Mongols, and, strangely, the Vikings. Kennedy tells us that all adult male nomads were potential warriors; there were no civilians in these societies. He gives particular attention to the Mongols, devoting two chapters to them but only one each to the other groups. The chapter on the Vikings seems somewhat out of place, as they were not nomadic.

Most readers will gain new insights from these surveys. Kennedy's writing is fluid and readable, though not elegant. The book is well illustrated with color plates, colored maps, and black and white drawings. The maps of key battles are particularly well done.

Rating:
Summary: Quality work, but...
Review: Mongols, Huns and Vikings is another well written, well researched installment in the Cassell's History of Warfare series. The author, Hugh Kennedy, does a fine job of weaving comprehensible language into a serious, scholarly endeavor that keeps the reader hooked. The illustrations, maps and diagrams are excellent visual aids, particularly those 3-d battle graphics which effectively buttrusses textual decriptions of certain battles mentioned in the book. So, what's the problem? Well, I won't call it a problem. Let's call it a concern. Considering the extent of the Mongols' domain during the 13th century, and how successful they were at wedding undaunted ferocity on the battlefield to a keen strategic and tactical acumen that would win them 20th century admirers of the likes of Rommel, I am concerned that the author did not choose to focus exclusively on them. Why does he have the Mongols sharing space with groups of lesser military accomplishments? Maybe such a decision was not the author's perogative, but a desire of the editors of the series. I don't know. In any event, there is not enough literature, at least that I have been able to ascertain, on the Mongols. And for a formerly disparate bunch of hard scrabbling nomads who later went on to forge the largest contiguous empire in history, the Mongols' low profile on the historical landscape is questionable. Again, I don't dispute the book's style or the accuracy of its content; I just wish there could have been a singular focus on the Mongols.