Warrior: A Visual History of the Fighting Man

I consider myself a military history fan and could not believe you can buy such a beautiful piece for under $30.00. After (and even better BEFORE) reading history books or watching history movies this book lets you understand HOW exactly all the participants looked, were dressed and WHAT they used as weapons. The best thing about it is that to see all these authentic items in real life one would have to go around the world and visit thousands of museums, and we all know that it's not possible.

I bought this for my boyfriend's coffee table. Everyone that comes over love it!! I highly recommend this book and the seller!!!

Great book! Purchased as a gift for my son and he's still pouring over it. Excellent photographs and very accurate historical information.

This is a three in one review on the truly splendid books, Warrior, Weapon, and Battle. Or more formally: Warrior, A visual History of the Fighting Man. Weapon, A visual History of Arms and Armor. Battle, A visual Journey through 5000 Years of Combat. They can be reviewed together because of their kinship in sharing the same visual concept and the same supremely expert author, R. G. Grant. No pilgrim, Grant is the author of over 20 books, most on the subject of conflict, implements of war and the fighting man. All three books are wonderfully delicious for those of us whose DNA inclines us toward the history of arms, armament and the men who have carried them. These books are chock full of photographs, charts, maps and illustrations on every page to beautifully compliment and expand upon a tightly written, no fluff text. And this text is extremely well researched. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess that I have not read each of these three books in their entirety. I've had them for only 2 weeks and after scanning them from start to finish, I am now devouring them slowly, page by page, like a monk with a holy book, meting out tasty morsels judiciously. I want this to last a long time. Although, the books overlap to a degree, they are not repetitious in any negative way as they each have their own exclusive focus. Warrior takes on the subject of the individual fighting man from 600 BCE to the present, from the Greek Hoplite, the Samurai, Zulu, Mongol bowman, American rifleman to the modern western infantry and special forces...and almost everything in between. Weapon focuses on just about every kind of implement of a fighting man's arsenal of killing tools from Assyrian spears to the AK 47. In some cases, replicas have been photographed but mostly it's the often crusty, old real thing. The photography is first rate. As in all three books, the text and illustrations are intermingled in such an artful way as to make each page a visual smorgasbord. Battle covers the first recorded major battle which is between the Canaanites and the Egyptians at Meiddo and takes us through conflicts in every age all the way to modern times. Its focus is on the Generals, the strategies, the troops and their weapons. Battle was published by DK in 2005, Weapon in `05 and Warrior in `07. Highly recommended, all three. ***

The book is a great companion for another book, "Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat". The book looks great, making browsing or reading the material a pleasure.