Product Description

In the early decades of the 8th century AD, Islamic forces were flooding into Europe through the Iberian peninsula, threatening Frankish and Burgundian territory and raiding it with ever-increasing ferocity. At the battle of Poitiers, also known as Tours, Christian forces under the Frankish leader Charles Martel 'The Hammer' (grandfather of Charlemagne) confronted a massive invading Islamic army. The Franks were victorious, effectively halting the northward advance of Islam and preserving Christianity as the dominant faith in Europe. Expert medievalist David Nicolle draws on contemporary sources to reconstruct this turning-point battle, placing it in its historical context and reviewing its background and the subsequent historical consequences.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #296985 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .0 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

About the Author
Born in 1944, David Nicolle worked in the BBC's Arabic service for a number of years before gaining an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and a doctorate from Edinburgh University. He has written numerous books and articles on medieval and Islamic warfare, and has been a prolific author of Osprey titles for many years.

Customer Reviews

A Good Book. Don't Know What the Other Review is Complaining About.
This is an excellent book. It covers the events leading up to the Battle of Poitiers as well as the battle itself. This seems to be the main complaint of the other reviewer. I don't see how this book could be written without the background. Perhaps the reviewer has read many other books on the subject and is therefore uninterested by a book that is intended to be an introduction to the subject. If so I wish he would list them since I have seen no other book on this battle. At any rate, this book is superbly illustrated and covers the entire incident in its (All too brief) length. Definitely recommended.

Usual long Dr. Nicholle intro waffle...
Poor Dr. Nicholle has so much to tell us from his vast historical knowledge that, as always, he runs out of pages for the actual subject.
Of the 97 pages only pages 63-83 are on the battle and each page has a halve page photo to use up space and there's a double side plate included also in this number.
At the end of the day there's nearly nothing to go round.
As there is hardly any historic sources for the battle the book has not much to say either. Very general and sketchy picture.
Three raiding maps where okay and made for better reading than the book itself which got tedious after 10 pages.
Plates better than Christa Hook any time, but still not the old quality.
Explanations for plates left 1/3 of page blank...what a waste...but again what to fill it with!?
A book you dont need.
Overpriced as all Osprey books.