Bronze Age War Chariots (New Vanguard 119)

by Nic Fields

Other authorsBrian Delf (Illustrator)

Paperback, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

355.8309013

Publication

Osprey Publishing (2006), 48 pages

Description

Chariots, the first mobile fighting vehicle, seem to have originated in Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. The highly mobile two-wheeled war chariot, carrying a driver and an archer armed with a short composite bow, revolutionized military tactics after 1700 BC. This expensive weapon spread throughout the Middle East and is thought to have reached Egypt with the conquering Hyksos. It spread into Asia Minor, Greece, and was known in Northern Europe by 1500 BC. This book covers the evolution of the war chariot throughout the Bronze Age, detailing its design, development and combat history - in particular its fundamental involvement at the battle of Qadesh.

User reviews

LibraryThing member setnahkt

Sorry I have been remiss on book reporting duties, but I’ve been busy keeping my house from collapsing and haven’t had much time to spare. Today, however, I’m at a Starbucks® hiding out from rampaging Trick-or-Treaters, so I might as well catch up a little.

Bronze Age War Chariots is a

typical Osprey/New Vanguard book; mostly intended for modelers or miniatures gamers, lots of pretty pictures, minimal but adequate text, not cheap. The black and white illustrations provide a useful reference for more scholarly books on chariot warfare; the color plates are highly detailed – perhaps overly so, with more things shown than the archaeological record actually justifies. There’s one egregious error; in a plate supposedly depicting action at the battle of Kadesh, Hittite charioteers overrun an Egyptian infantry unit. The Egyptians are all shown wearing the nmsh headdress; this is the cloth head covering with shoulder lappets that’s ubiquitous in cartoons and popular illustrations of ancient Egyptians. Unfortunately for the illustrator, the nmsh is restricted to Pharaoh; it’s essentially yet another Egyptian royal crown and no one else ever wears one. Actual Egyptian infantry head covering at this time would have been a heavy wig, thoroughly greased so weapon strikes had a better chance of glancing off. An Egyptian infantry platoon must have had an interesting odor after a day’s heavy fighting.

Possibly useful for a very quick background on chariot fighting, or if you want to model them.

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