Book Review? - Medieval Handgonnes - Sean McLachlan

[Baron Conal]

Medieval Handgonnes



Anyone got this one?

good book?

[Fire Stryker]

I don't think it is due out until October 2010, at least that was the word from the author.

[Baron Conal]

I don't think it is due out until October 2010, at least that was the word from the author.

oops.... missed that. your are right.


My birthday is in October!

[James B.]

Gerry Embleton is doing the art, sweet.

[RandallMoffett]

So out of curiosity who is the author. I have never heard of him and a google search does not help find much info on him. He seems to do mostly modern themes, with some warfare, which may or may not be a good thing.

Guess we will have to wait and see regarding the book itself, but I might try to borrow it than buy it. Seems like decent books on medieval firearms are rare.

RPM

[RandallMoffett]

sorry double posted

RPM

[RandallMoffett]

So I got it at long last and figured it would be good to bump this thread and at the same time put up a small review.

Overall I have to say I was impressed with Mr. McLachlan's book. As I said earlier I always dread books on medieval firearms, especially from a person I can find almost nothing about their back ground. With some people you know what to expect as they tend to have a specific theme they are stuck on but the unknown can often be good as well and this small booklet I think will be useful for people just getting acquainted to this topic or as a brief summary of firearms themselves.

The book is well divided among various aspects of early gunpowder development and subsequent weaponization of it in various forms. Mr. McLachlan has included many great sources and illustrations to his book, though those familiar with Hall's excellent work will find little new evidence, yet the concise nature of the work and inclusion of some fantastic photo sequences of men loading gonnes and arquebuses is extraordinarily useful for a visual on this process (Nice work Bob, Jenn and crew).

He also gives some good and concise sections of the creation of gunpowder- how it was made, the various types and its impact. As well the section on the firearms themselves gives a nice, direct, and short description and categorization that will help people, especially new to the subject, sort these various weapons out. Hall's book on this gives of course better detail but I have been told by people who started with a 'burning' desire to be a gonner it dampened their fuse so a shorter and to the point book might prove very beneficial.

And last but not least he gives a huge amount of photos of existent firearms from this period (some he dates a bit earlier than most but still very nice pictures). It gives literally dozens of pictures of guns from all over Europe, many of which are burst which is sort of neat and a story in and of itself. This book might be worth getting simply for the sake of the firearms in it. Not as many as Smith and DeVries Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy but still for its price worth while.

I think most of the aspects I found most problematic were caused by the brief nature of the book. That said some of his key arguments are rather unstable to my understanding of firearms development (which is certainly not the best in the world but I imagine fairly in depth considering my background and research) over overly simplistic and general. As well it seems clear he is relying on secondary works as some of his statements are the same ones that others have used for years, sadly once again will little substance to back them up which is excusable considering the nature of the work is to be concise not in depth. It is part of the nature of reference-less osprey books (I have to say footnotes to me are near required, or should be as I take few people at their word and like to see the evidence myself for analysis).

One example was the Battle of Aljubarrota. He claims the failure of firearms was that they simply did not have enough.... this is an odd statement as first at this point 16 cannons on a field of battle would be many more than most battles of the age (often even 16 cannons more) along with the fact that in the future firearms on field seem to have little real indication of victory (Charles the Bold had more artillery than almost any one in the world and he still lost on several occasions, notwithstanding). This is one of the main issues with anything on firearms of this period, they are often taken out of perspective and context to trends of larger military activity as people are trying to make them of paramount importance when, like most weapons they played a single part in the battle as other weapons did. General statements that in a specific instance are correct but in general is less so. Numbers of gonners and their importance is another such point that is a bit over estimated in this manner.

And the build up of guns in the Hussite forces from 1421-1427. Where does this come from? Word for word this is the same thing that Turnbull says in the Osprey Hussite book and before him Nicolle says something similar but none of them provide where this notion evolves from. As far as I can tell the highest percent that has been provided for them at their peek was 360 handguns of 6000 men in total. about one in 16, which was lower than what the ordinance of 1419 wished for having 2 in 20. Nothing Fudge or others have written supports this and I have seen no primary records indicating this either.... weird how similar this theme is though, must have a common origin (maybe Nicolle?, anyone know?).

All in all a good book and worth owning if one gets the chance but if you can handle it Bert Hall's book to me is still the place to go for medieval firearms information and evidence of use. It has footnotes heavily laden with evidence to check out and much more detail on the real trends occurring. That said for the gent who does not want to know the chemical compounds and their specific reactions or is just looking for a light and/or concise books on firearms this is a good one. Out of ten I'd have to say 7, maybe 7.5, especially with all the cool pictures of Wolfe Argent!

RPM

[Cap'n Atli]

Randall:

Do you think it would be of value to a balcksmith contemplating making reproductions? Any diagrams, measurements, technical notes? (Family is hinting around for birthday and Christmas gifts. )

[RandallMoffett]

He includes the length and bore of most of the guns that he has photographs from but no detailed diagrams and any specific one. I would assume it would be of use if some one tried to reproduce a gun as he does give a fair amount of measurements on a wide number of firearms. He also gives a weight which will be useful in gauging how much material should be used along with some great close ups of some parts of early guns like touchpans and the locks.

RPM

[Cap'n Atli]

Thank you. I shall consider it.

[Fire Stryker]

So I got it at long last and figured it would be good to bump this thread and at the same time put up a small review.

Overall I have to say I was impressed with Mr. McLachlan's book. As I said earlier I always dread books on medieval firearms, especially from a person I can find almost nothing about their back ground. With some people you know what to expect as they tend to have a specific theme they are stuck on but the unknown can often be good as well and this small booklet I think will be useful for people just getting acquainted to this topic or as a brief summary of firearms themselves.

The book is well divided among various aspects of early gunpowder development and subsequent weaponization of it in various forms. Mr. McLachlan has included many great sources and illustrations to his book, though those familiar with Hall's excellent work will find little new evidence, yet the concise nature of the work and inclusion of some fantastic photo sequences of men loading gonnes and arquebuses is extraordinarily useful for a visual on this process (Nice work Bob, Jenn and crew).

<snip>

Thanks Randal. Sorry we didn't see this sooner, it's been a long time since I've personally viewed the archive and this was posted after we got hit with our October Nor'easter.

[Dierick]

I'm curious if my piece is in it. I sent a simple repro to a guy doing a book on this years ago and was promised a copy of the book, but never saw it get published.

[RandallMoffett]

Jenn,

No you and your group deserve it! The pictures are very good which is to be expected from Wolf Argent. Just applied for a dozen or two jobs along the Eastern Seaboard so if I end up gaining one of those jobs I will have to stop by and say hello and see the group in person.

Dierick,

No idea what you wrote of made so it'd be hard to say if it was or was not.

Another funny thing I did not mention, in part because I was not sure it was Embleton or Sean's contribution was the picture of the fall of Constantinople. They admit to it being based completely on speculation but to me it was far out on that limb.

RPM

[Fire Stryker]

Randal,

if you're up in the New England area, definitely stop in and say "hi".

Jenn

[Cap'n Atli]

I received a copy for Christmas! Eldest son had to hunt it down in its den; but he got me a copy.

It is already providing inspiration for future projects at the forge. Thank you for the recommendation.