Byzantine Armies AD 1118–1461 (Men-at-Arms)

Usual great text and plates, and the usual immensely useful at-a-glance timeline towards the front of the book. The plates alone capture how far the Byzantine Empire had fallen, ultimately from its Roman past, but even from its pre-Manzikert ancestors. The army consisted almost entirely of Nomad and European mercenaries. This book goes through the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks to the last eight years of a surviving Byzantine state, the 'Empire' of Trebizond, which finally fell to the Ottomans in August of 1461.

The book for me is a treasure box.I didn't know that it has with so much detail the description of the Byzantine Armies.It is so easy reading and with the pictures of course and the fantastic illustrations.

Osprey has done it again. These guys are the masters of finding good pictures to print in their books. I find the time lines they put in their books a invaluable resource. About the only dissapointment i find in these books is the lack of color when they show the actual plates. The source materials are good also. They find information in a varied assortment of histories and have a complete bibliography at the end. Good book, as expected.