Search results for ""Trustees of the Royal Armouries""

The English Civil Wars tore families and friendships apart, setting father against son and brother against brother. Raging across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the conflict was the greatest political upheaval in the British Isles in six hundred years, and led directly to the execution of King Charles I in 1649. Keith Dowen tells the absorbing story of the arms and armour of the civil wars, and demonstrates how emerging weaponry contributed to some of the most well-known battles in British history. The book forms part of a series of introductions to aspects of the Royal Armouries' collection of arms and armour. Written by specialists in the field, they are packed full of fascinating information and stunning photography. Royal Armouries is the national museum of arms and armour, with sites at Leeds, the Tower of London and Fort Nelson, Hampshire.

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Fort Nelson was built in the 1860s, as part of a chain of fortifications protecting the great naval harbour of Portsmouth and its Royal Dockyard from a feared French invasion. It now houses the national collection of artillery, held in trust for the nation by the Royal Armouries, with over 350 big guns and historic cannon on display. Visitors can explore 19 acres of ramparts, outer fortifications, secret underground tunnels and ammunition bunkers. This fascinating guidebook is a perfect introduction to a remarkable site.

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The First World War was a watershed in global history. Both terrible and terrifying, it shredded the social order and ushered in a bleak new world. Inevitably, the war led to major advances in military strategy and tactics that were reflected in the weapons used on the battlefield. This book offers an extended introduction to the arms and armour of the Great War, with particular focus on iconic weapons such as the Maxim machine gun. It is a unique insight into the material culture that not only enabled the horrors of the Somme, Passchendaele and Gallipoli but also provided the means to bring peace in 1918.

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From Captain George Francklin Atkinson, the celebrated author of Curry and Rice on Forty Plates, comes the iconic The Campaign in India. Atkinson, an officer of the Bengal Engineers in the 1850s, sketched the British response to the Indian Rebellion. Widely denigrated for overlooking the Indian perspective, The Campaign in India is unsurpassed as a record of the English attitude to India at 1857. This Royal Armouries facsimile includes, for the first time, both the text and illustrations from Atkinson’s work.

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The First World War tore apart the early twentieth century. Both terrible and terrifying, it banished misplaced optimism that war on such an unconscionable scale could never occur. A century after the guns fell silent on the Western Front, its scars continue to shape our modern idea of remembrance. As the national museum of arms and armour, the Royal Armouries brings a unique perspective to studies of the Great War. Stumbling Towards Victory contains photographs – many previously unpublished – from the museum archives, all of which were taken in the final twelve months of the war. Amidst the haunting emptiness of broken ground and shattered trees, these images convey the horror, and hope, of that final cataclysmic year. Published to coincide with the First World War centenary commemorations, Stumbling Towards Victory illustrates the final months of a global conflagration that was nothing less than an armageddon for the ages.

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Could the event that triggered the ‘war to end all wars’ have been prevented? The shot that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and directly led to the outbreak of the First World War is known as the ‘shot heard around the world’. Far less widely known is the fact that the Archduke owned, but on that fateful day did not wear, a bulletproof vest manufactured by Polish priest-turned-inventor Casimir Zeglen. Using a reconstructed bulletproof vest and a Royal Armouries Browning Model 1910 pistol identical to that used by the Archduke’s assassin, Lisa Traynor highlights the risks associated with power and status in the early 20th century. Assessing the design and composition of Zeglen’s armours, she charts the technological development of pistols used during this period’s assassination plots. Testing her findings on a replica of the Archduke’s bulletproof vest, Traynor poses the haunting question: had Franz Ferdinand been wearing body armour on the day of his assassination, would it have saved his life? Featured in the BBC TV series Sword, Musket and Machine Gun: Britain’s Armed History, this fascinating book breaks new ground in our understanding of the outbreak of the First World War.

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Inspired by a collection of letters received by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle during the First World War, Philip Abbott sets out to explore the inspirational campaign to provide body armour to British soldiers serving in the trenches. Setting the letters in the context of the terrible losses suffered during the Battle of the Somme, Abbott reveals the actions of the War Office and Ministry of Munitions in providing better protection for the troops. He examines Conan Doyle's personal motives for involvement, and investigates the part played by another Edinburgh graduate, Caleb Saleeby, in promoting the development of helmets, body armour and shields. Saving Lives is an absorbing account of how the creator of Sherlock Holmes used his fame to campaign against the horrific casualties on the Western Front.

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The Elizabethan court was a vibrant and colourful place, where the inherited traditions and technological skill that had characterised the Middle Ages came face to face with the decorative techniques of the Renaissance. The book includes fascinating background about the court, government and armies of the age (including the main protagonists of the Spanish Armada) together with information about the individual owners of many pieces. It features beautiful photographs of key objects from the Royal Armouries’ collection including the Lion Armour, the ‘Forget-me-not’ Gun and the Burgonet of Smyth armour.

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British Ordnance Muskets identifies and analyses in detail 18 ordnance muskets from the 1830s and 1840s. As well as providing the history and details of the muskets of this important period when the Ordnance transitioned from flintlock to percussion arms, it also covers the impact of two arms shortages, material losses suffered in the Tower of London fire (1841) and the obsolescence of all existing arms for the Militia and Volunteers. By consulting original records, Adrian Roads also offers much about the gun contractors themselves: what drove them, what irked them and their capacity for work. It includes several appendices that facilitate in-depth research into any British ordnance percussion musket held in a collection or under consideration for acquisition, making it an invaluable resource for researchers, students of arms and collectors alike.

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Treasures of the Royal Armouries is a photographic journey through Britain’s national museum of arms and armour. It reflects the diversity of the Royal Armouries’ collection, which was assembled over many centuries at the Tower of London and now spans the ancient world to the present day. At the core of this journey is the museum’s unparalleled group of Tudor armours which derive from the Greenwich Armoury of Henry VIII, but European swords, paintings and manuscripts are equally well-represented. Stunning pieces from Asia are included, as are key items from the national collection of firearms, started in 1631 by Charles I and now housed at the National Firearms Centre, as well as larger guns from the National Artillery Centre at Fort Nelson. Each of the 115 entries tell compelling stories, tracing the histories of individuals, campaigns and cultures across millennia. They also consider the place of arms in an increasingly turbulent world and the new challenges that technology presents to a modern army. Treasures of the Royal Armouries is a lavishly illustrated account of some of the most interesting pieces of arms and armour in existence.

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The Royal Armouries is Britain’s national museum of arms and armour, and one of the most important museums of its type in the world. Its origins lie in the Middle Ages, and at its core is the celebrated collection originating in the nation’s working arsenal, assembled over many centuries at the Tower of London. In the reign of Elizabeth I, selected items began to be arranged for display to visitors, making the Royal Armouries heir to one of the oldest deliberately-created visitor attractions in the country. This fully-updated edition of the Royal Armouries guidebook is packed with useful information and stunning photography, and is a perfect introduction to the collection.

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The Royal Armouries is Britain's oldest museum, still partly housed in its original buildings in the Tower of London. The core of the collection is the medieval arsenal that was restocked by Henry VIII and on show to privileged visitors as early as the reign of Elizabeth I. After 1660, the general public was admitted and a series of spectacular exhibits was set up, one of which included instruments of torture and punishment. Since that time, they have been one of the Tower's prime attractions, enhanced by the macabre stories that surround them. This fascinating book sets these instruments of torture and punishment in their proper context and explores whether the Tower deserves its grim reputation.

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The papers presented in this book represent the latest research on a wide variety of arms and armour given as diplomatic gifts between Asia and Europe, or within Europe, between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The research originated at a conference that celebrated the 400th anniversary of Anglo-Japanese relations.

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The Renaissance is best known as an age of artists – Michelangelo, da Vinci, Titian and Holbein – but it is also the age of the noble patrons who challenged their painters and sculptors to create great art. These patrons were knights, military leaders and jousters. They played a central role in the story of another great Renaissance story, that of the armourer. Here, Tobias Capwell continues his history of jousting seen through surviving artefacts in the collection of the Royal Armouries. He reveals how the jousts and tournaments of the Renaissance transported knightly combat into a kind of performance art, with demonstrations of aristocratic skill and nerve, of superhuman strength and superlative horsemanship – and of cutting-edge equipment.

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Taken from a family archive held at the Royal Armouries, Only Water Between tells the story of Captain Jack Adam and his family. Deployed to France in 1918, Jack leaves behind his beloved wife Gert and their three children. Separated by war, letters from home are a lifeline. Containing unpublished extracts and images of personal letters and photos, Only Water Between depicts a unique – yet all-too-common – story of family separation during the First World War. It describes the impact of soldiers missing in action, and the remarkable resilience of families left behind. Lost for many years, even the letters themselves offer a unique story of discovery and reunion. Angela Clare portrays a relationship of intimacy, trust and strength under pressure. As Jack writes to Gert, it was a time when there was ‘only water between’.

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'Houses are found in infinite variety. Some are suited for defence, others are absolute death-traps.' 'Think: is it strong? Has it a cellar? Are its surrounding suitable? Is it capable of all-round defence?' 'Let me impress upon you once again: let your defence be active; go out and hit the enemy first; keep hitting him as he draws near to your defended house; and have your defences so good and so cunning, both inside and outside, that when he begins to attack it you can heave a sigh of relief and say, ‘And now he’s going to ask for it, and he will get it!’ Defence of Houses is one of a series of training books written in 1942 by Colonel G. A. Wade for the newly-recruited Home Guard. This reproduction from the Royal Armouries’ archive shows how Second World War trainees learnt to defend themselves amidst the threat of enemy invasion.

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The Field of Cloth of Gold was one of the greatest courtly spectacles of the sixteenth century. A carefully-orchestrated meeting outside Calais between Henry VIII and Francis I, it encapsulated Henry’s imperial ambitions and confirmed the role of the tournament in international diplomacy. Here, Keith Dowen and Scot Hurst reveal the glamour and excitement of the Field of Cloth of Gold. Using surviving artefacts and important archival material, they illustrate how England began the transition from being a small nation on the edge of Europe to becoming a global empire with power and influence. The armour that was created for the event was made possible by Henry VIII’s new armoury at Greenwich and his existing armoury at the Tower of London. Tudor Power and Glory explains the skill of the armourers as they prepared for the tournament, the fighting that took place on horse and on foot, and the significance of the Field of Cloth of Gold as a political event as England and France, two emerging nations of old Europe, took their places on the world stage.

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Japan is a mysterious and beguiling country, steeped in the deepest of traditions yet strikingly modern. Here, Curator Emeritus Ian Bottomley sheds light on one of the most popular facets of the Royal Armouries' collection, reflecting this mesmeric harmony of reverence and reinvention. He offers an overview of Japanese arms and armour from the middle ages to the twentieth century, describing sword-making, firearms technology, key military campaigns and samurai culture in the 'Land of the Rising Sun'.

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The Royal Armouries’ stunning collection of arms and armour provides a unique historical perspective on visual and material culture from across the world. Both intricate and elaborate, these items are a magnificent testament to fashion, craftsmanship and engineering throughout the ages. This book is filled with gorgeous photography offering a glimpse into a world of firearms, armours, swords and helmets. It includes an insightful essay by Karen Watts, former Senior Curator at the Royal Armouries and Knight of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

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The Royal Armouries’ collection of Asian arms and armour is among the finest in the world. With the aid of stunning photography, former Deputy Master Thom Richardson outlines a rich and vibrant diversity of military cultures from the Ottoman Empire to East Asia. The book provides fascinating information about medieval Islam, the Ottoman Turks, the Arabian Peninsula, Islamic kingdoms of North Africa, Iran and Iraq, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, India and Indonesia.

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Often typified by the large tank battles of the Eastern Front, the hunt for U-boats in the Atlantic and the dogfights over European skies, the Second World War saw mechanised warfare on an unprecedented scale. Yet there was another side to the fighting. This was also the infantryman’s conflict where an individual fighting man and the comrades to whom he was attached were asked to play a more diverse – and decisive – role than ever before. The Second World War was as much a war of small units as of big battalions. Here, Alexander Shaw explores the significance of this emphasis on small units for the men who fought between 1939 and 1945. He describes the evolution of the infantry rifle section of the British Army and brings together the history of their weaponry, their small-unit tactics and the soldiers’ personal experiences. Covering every major theatre of operations where British infantrymen saw action, Shaw offers a compelling narrative of Britain’s fighting philosophy and the part played by the individual. Drawing upon unpublished research into War Office publications, government documents, soldiers’ memoirs and several archives, this is a new and methodologically original interpretation of Britain’s war.

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Do you know that house-to-house fighting is the finest sport on earth? Do you know that is it just the sort of close-quarter scrapping the British excel in? Do you know that once you get going you will love it? Do you want to come with me down our street and play hell with some bloody Huns? You do? Right, we’ll carry on! House to House Fighting is one of a series of training books written in 1942 by Colonel G. A. Wade for the newly-recruited Home Guard. This reproduction from the Royal Armouries’ archive shows how Second World War trainees learnt to defend themselves amidst the threat of enemy invasion.

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Camillo Palladini's manuscript for his discourse on fencing is housed in the De Walden Library at the Wallace Collection in London. Previously unpublished and largely unknown, it is of central importance to a modern understanding of Italian rapier play in the sixteenth century. This stunning book, a joint endeavour between the Royal Armouries and the Wallace Collection, reproduces the forty-six red chalk illustrations in the manuscript--only three of which have ever been seen in print--together with a transcription and translation of the original Italian text. Perfect for students of fencing, lovers of Italian art, sixteenth-century researchers, and historical reenactors and interpreters, The Art of Fencing: The Forgotten Discourse of Camillo Palladini showcases a striking example of Renaissance swordsmanship.

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‘It is extraordinary how reluctant the British soldier is to show cunning. We try to play the game of war as if it had rules for fair play like cricket and football.’ ‘If you want to make your spell of duty pass quickly, concentrate on prowling properly.’ ‘By Jove, look! There is a suspicious-looking man creeping under those bushes. It will be heaven help that rough chap if he makes a break!’ First published in the 1940s for the newly-recruited British Home Guard, The Art of Prowling showed recruits how to sneak up on the enemy without being seen, how to avoid attracting attention, and why they should never underestimate a German spy. Will you be awarded the Good Prowler’s Badge?

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The fabled treasures of China span thousands of years of history. From the exotic Silk Road to the mysterious Great Wall, China’s allure is as vast as the country itself. Here, Natasha Bennett introduces the fascinating world of Chinese arms and armour in the Royal Armouries’ collection. Offering a colourful insight into one of the world’s earliest civilisations, she chronicles the development of personal weapons and armour from the late Bronze Age to the early twentieth century. It is ideal for anyone interested in the military and material culture of this absorbing land.

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Royal Armouries Manuscript I.33, also known as the Tower Fechtbuch or the Walpurgis Manuscript, is the oldest-known manual of swordsmanship in the western canon. Dated to c.1310, it is a stunning work of late medieval art and the Armouries’ most treasured manuscript, one so famous it has become known simply by its shelf number: I.33. This new edition includes a critical introduction, transcription and translation by Jeffrey L. Forgeng, the foremost authority on I.33.

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In 1858, Ensign Hugh Pearson embarked at Chatham for service with the 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment in India, little suspecting that within a few short months he would be taking part in the dramatic events of the Indian Rebellion. His letters to his family, published here for the first time, tell of the dramatic events that unfolded from the first rumblings of unrest at Barrackpore, to the shocking news of the massacre at Cawnpore, and the struggle to relieve Lucknow. Pearson offers a remarkable insight into the career of a young regimental officer in Queen Victoria’s army, as well as an enticing glimpse of family life. Peace gives him the chance to engage in his favourite pastime – shooting – whilst war offers the opportunity for promotion and loot. But as the campaign continues and his comrades begin to fall, Pearson begins to long for home.

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The School of Fencing is a colour facsimile edition of Domenico Angelo’s famous fencing manual of 1765. Such was Angelo's reputation that he numbered several members of the British royal family amongst his clientele, and his Soho-based School of Arms was noted for accepting female students. Featuring an introduction by fencing expert Mark Hillyard, this new facsimile edition includes the parallel English and French text together with all 47 hand-coloured engravings by artist James Gwynn. It is ideal for devotees of fencing, lovers of Georgian high society, students of arms and armour, and historical reenactors and interpreters.

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Jousting is the most iconic form of mounted combat. For more than five hundred years, the sport itself, and the chivalric culture that surrounded it, took on almost mythical qualities. Here, Tobias Capwell explains the glitz and glamour of a sport that attracted enormous popular audiences throughout the late middle ages. Though he deals almost exclusively with weapons and warriors, Capwell tells a story not of war and destruction, but of pageantry and valour. This is the story of the armour of peace. The book forms part of a series of introductions to aspects of the Royal Armouries' collection of arms and armour. Written by specialists in the field, they are packed full of fascinating information and stunning photography. Royal Armouries is the national museum of arms and armour, with sites at Leeds, the Tower of London and Fort Nelson, Hampshire.

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India is a vast sub-continent with a complex history and a great array of languages, cultures and religions. This book serves as a short introduction to the exquisite weapons used in the region, focusing on the Royal Armouries’ collections from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Beautiful photography is interwoven with remarkable historical and cultural detail about archery, swords, shields, daggers, firearms, artillery and elephant armour.

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