I have recently started expanding my arms and armour library, and have been looking at books to buy. So I thought I´d ask, what are your favourite arms and armour related books?

Ryan,
Check out this this thread if you haven't already: Picture-heavy book recommendations.

So far my favorite book I have found is The Sword in Anglo Saxon England from the 5th to the 7th Century by Paul Mortimer and Matt Bunker. Its got a narrow focus, but is data heavy. It's full of charts and stats, graphs etc. It even goes into metallurgy and iron production, and the tools and techniques used to make the swords. And it has citations for everything. It also has the most and best info I have yet found on pattern welding. I could go on for ages about this book.

In my experience, most people will recommend books that read like a guided tour through a museum. A little bit of light history, a fun story or two, and tons of beautiful pictures. If you are hungry for knowledge these books are a tease.

The Sword in Anglo Saxon England reads like a college text book (but more enjoyable than most from my exp). Its the first sword book that that didn't leave me with more questions than I started with.

My other favorite is The Sword in Early Medieval Northern Europe by Sue Brunning. This book looks specifically at how swords were interpreted culturally and what they meant to the people who interacted with them. Sue looks at art and literature as well as archaeology. This sounds like something I wouldnt be too interested in, but it was so well researched and well written that I couldn't put it down. The author, Sue Brunning, is a curator at the British museum and has some really great videos on YouTube if you want a sample of some of her work.

Definitely the Tobias Capwell "Armour of the English Knight" trilogy!

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