{"product_id":"war-in-the-middle-ages","title":"War in the Middle Ages","description":"\u003cp\u003eCovering the ten centuries following the fall of Rome  War in the Middle Ages engages all aspects of its subject  including the military customs and conditions of the various Western European states; armor and weaponry recruitment; and rules of combat developed to limit bloodshed. Philippe Contamine writes with an awareness that  in both theory and fact  medieval warfare was constantly evolving. He opens with a chapter on Roman military disintegration and the practice of warfare in the barbarian kingdoms erected on the empires ruins. He then shows how feudalization multiplied conflicts  and describes the resulting growth of the \"great stone civilization\" of the castle. In the area of military method  he emphasizes three innovations: gunpowder  standing armies and the increased use of infantry  supplying in each case a wealth of data and documentation. Contamine traces the rise of a new literature of strategy and changes in the concept of courage which he puts in the context of actual risk. He points out that the chivalric ideals of the later Middle Ages operated within narrow limits  outside which aristocrats and commoners freely slaughtered each other. Contamine also analyzes the theories of just and unjust war that developed at this time  and illustrates a phenomenon more typical of the period; the religious glorification of the warrior. Ever mindful of the chaos and devastation that war brings  War in the Middle Ages nonetheless offers a clear and consistent picture of the military ethos of a millennium.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44941913915445,"sku":"ByrdShop_0631144692","price":27.36,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780631144694.jpg?v=1770459029","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/war-in-the-middle-ages","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}