Knights of Christ

For me Terence Wise is the equal to David Nicolle as the best authors for the Osprey series. They focus on the crucial history parts of the text, & less about Regalia. This was a delight to read, a subject that like their Muslim counterparts get little attention in the Politically Correct halls of American academia. I was somewhat familiar with the Templars, Hospitallers, & Teutonic Knights. I found the second half of the text more engrossing, because we learned very little about these folks in school. The eastern European wars,{Polish diplomacy worked better than their enemies martial prowess} the Italian & Spanish orders made for fascinating reading. The knights of San Stefano & Santiago in particular filled in some gaps in my knowledge. How many of us knew that some of the orders lasted for centuries? Mr. Scollins is no Angus McBride. But plates f-h were rather good. For 40 pages you certainly get your moneys worth.

One of the various titles from the addictive Osprey military-history books! This lavishly illustrated book is an ideal first guide to those researching the major Crusading Orders of Knighthood: the Hospitalers, the Templars, and the Teutonic Knights. Within you will find an overview of the major campaigns and spheres of influence of the Crusaders, their military and commercial goals, and how these changed over time. For example, with the eventual loss of the Holy Land, the Hospitallers placed emphasis on becoming a naval power in the Mediterrenean. In this manner they still retained a viable military presence in that region, that frequently crippled and disrupted Muslim sea-trade for centuries after the fall of Outremer. In fact, the Hospitallers, Order of Saint John, held out on Malta until the Napoleonic Wars, when Napoleon's forces captured the island! As with all Osprey Books, there is a considerable section of illustration plates inside, accompanied by descriptions of the weapons, armor, and other gear utilized by the warriors depicted.

this book gives an excellent, although very brief, overview of the medieval military orders. All the usual suspects (Teutonic Knights, Templars etc.) are here, but also some of the lesser know (mostly Iberian) orders. My only critique would be that the color plates lack variety in showing almost excusively the three dominant orders.

Generally, I like all of the Osprey Men-At-Arms books, but this is one of my favorites, considering I'm particularly interested in the crusades and knights of the period. This book gives you a very good overview of the history of the templars, providing a lot of nice images to give you a feel for how things looked. I'd definitely recommend it. As with the other books in this series, they're too brief if you're looking for very detailed and in-depth information-- But as an introduction, a suppliment, or just for general interest, it's absolutely wonderful!