Barbarians, Marauders, And Infidels: The Ways Of Medieval Warfare

by Antonio Santosuosso

Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels examines the motives and terrors of war during the Middle Ages, the rise and fall of ethnic and religious groups, and the actions of good and evil military leaders during this violent and colorful period. In this sweeping chronicle, historical figures and major campaigns such as Charlemagne, the Magyars, and the Crusades are presented not as icons but as a living part of their times, with all their achievements and human failures. Santosuosso asserts that war, for most of the Middle Ages, was carried out for God, personal gain, and honor. Both Christians and Muslims often explained their acts of violence in war as the will of God. Besides the religious motivation, soldiers, if upper class, believed that acts of bravery were a necessary aspect of gaining honor in society. Finally, war constituted a way to make material gains in a period of chronic underemployment and low prosperity. Particular emphasis is given to massive transitions from one period to the next in the medieval era. The author explains how these changes reflected an environment where charismatic leaders, the Church, and the aristocracy played leading roles as "managers" of the art and practice of war and normally as main actors on the battlefield.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Medieval History, European History, Ancient History, Medieval

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[John W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of information about medieval warfare but told in separate sections and no overall conclusions are drawn.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief overall view of Medieval warfare. It sort of skips around a lot, only to come back later to make a point he already had made. The info isn't bad, and some of the sections are written well, but overall, it's just not put together well.

Can't recommend there are better books about the topic out there. It's not bad for a one volume brief look, but again, just not put together well.

[Katie D'Angelo · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is rare that I don't finish a book I started but in this case, it had to be done. I was struggling my way through this and finally gave up over half way through. I wanted to like this book and at least give it a 2 or 3 star rating but as I just could not get into it and had to give it up, the 1 star was warranted. This book suffers from providing a brief and sometimes incoherant history on battles and warfares with no real cohesive structure. I love the subject matter this is supposed to be about but I simply did not like the writing style or the organisation of the book.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This summer I focused my reading efforts on the period between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and The Renaissance. I was always unclear about how this period structurally laid the framework for the beginning of the Renaissance. This book fit nicely into an overview of exactly this period. Merovingian royalty replaced the Empire. There was a resurgent Byzantine Empire fighting on Western Roman Empire territory against Vandals, Goths, Franks, and other barbarians. Charlemagne was crowned Emperor and an obscure man named Mohammed had a vision that spawned Islam. The Crusades took Jerusalem and lost it to Saladin. The Hundred Years War came and went. Finally, the condottieri were the last subject of this text. An excellent compilation of history centered on Europe and the Mediterranean.

[TimetoFangirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another book I read for research but very informative and well-written! I definitely recommend if you're interested in learning more on this topic.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pros :: This is a reread — it’s excellent and informative.

Cons :: Nothing

Cover art :: 5 out of 5

[Christopher Deng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels: The Ways of Medieval Warfare
Author: Antonio Santosuosso
Genre: History

Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels is a book on the history of religions throughout the centuries. Written by Antonio Santosuosso, this book illustrates the hatred and violence between certain religions and the brutal battles that occurred among them.

Focusing mainly on the religious areas of the book, Antonio describes the Muslim prophet, Muhammad and his life. Born from a family of the Hashin tribe, one of the lesser clans of the overall Quraysh tribe, Antonio states that he is still a man with a bright future. Many Muslims at looked at Muhammad with scorn, and didn’t view him as anyone special. However, later in his life, Muhammad reveals the Quran from God and Islam, a monotheist religion that worships only Allah, the one God. Muhammad was then viewed as the most important person on earth and despite his tribe, he was given great power. After his death, many fought for that power, and a civil war between Muslims began. A civil war scales into a war that brought other countries into action. Antonio then describes the events of Muslims invading Syria and Iraq, known as the Conquest of the Fertile Crescent, and then striking into North America and the Iberian Peninsula.

However, this is not a book only on the history of Islam and their victories, but as well as other religions. Another major religion mentioned in this book would be Christianity, a great religion that is also monotheist. Antonio writes in great detail and states how Christianity was meant to be and stay a pacifist religion and forbade any involvement in war. However, as Muslims advanced and tried to conquer the Christians, they broke the line of peace and fought back. This war was split into many sections, overall named The Crusades.

In this book, Anotnio focuses a lot on the weaponry and reminds us constantly that the book is written very long ago. It reveals many tactics used as well as the historical events that occurred at the time. At the same time, Antonio noted that these events were caused by religions, and so the two great religions, Islam and Christianity, were brought in. Antonio spends a lot of time writing in detail and proving that the majority of all the violence caused were acts of worshipping God, whereas the Muslims were fighting for Allah, and Christians were countering in the name of their God. This book explains and guides us through the rise and fall of the two religions, from the origin to their final battle, The Crusades, and all along, explaining how religion and their beliefs were definitely involved. This is a historical book describing how religion had to do with many of the violence that occurred in the past.

People might be wondering why they should read this specific book to learn about the history of religion. Google is always available. However, Antonio is no mere stranger that writes on blogs. From the cover, the illustration itself states that Antonio is an expert, from drawing the perfect battlefield to how a man would hold a sword. The book explains many facts of war and the equipment’s used as well as why were used. It explains the origin and the fall of a religion, and most of all, it bonds historical events with the religions. Barbarians, marauders, and Infidels is a book meant for those who love studying historical events or histories of religion. It is a perfectly reliable book written by an expert. I would rate this book a 9.5/10.

[Ethan D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I never got to last portion of the book (1600s) I read the majority of this book and it served a very good introduction of history and how it connects especially true about the franks and the fall of rome this book purpose has reached it expectations of what was said a review of world history on of middle school grade understanding/info
If intrested futher i would suggest reading the art of sieg craft and weapons to understand the later half of book on medieval times up to 1600s aswell as reading guns germs and steel for understanding how these people developed.

[Adam Copeland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle to this work should be: "A Brief History of Warfare Between the Fall of Rome and the Renaissance," or perhaps more whimsically (but accurately), "People Killing Each Other in Medieval Times."

Coming in just under 300 pages, Antonio Santosuosso's work is meant to touch briefly on the significant engagements in the subject era that defined the nature of warfare and its future development in Europe and the Near East. Though it comments on the political, religious, and socio-economic factors that motivated men to bludgeon, hack, stab, squash, and blow each other up in large numbers, Santosuosso manages to fall just short of being a dry academic read by going into engaging detail of specific battles like a play-by-play sports announcer. It is history-lite, which I imagine is what the author had in mind. It is a primer meant to get you interested just enough in the subject matter to either spend hours pouring over Wikipedia articles or buy Santosuosso's next book in the series.

If you're only a fan of warfare, you won't be able to help but become more knowledgeable of history in general. You'll pick up interesting trivia like: King Richard I of England, the "Lionhearted," rarely set foot in England and didn't speak the language at all; Saladin, the Muslim conqueror was born in Tikrit...the same place as Saddam Hussien; Joan of Arc was an uneducated 17 year old girl, but routed the English at almost every military engagement; Once upon a time the Pope had his own army; and Normandy, France was named after the Norse Vikings who settled there.

[Gene Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts off well, covering the evolution of warfare in Western Europe following the 5th Century collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Then it nicely shifts to the Muslim conquests in the Near East, Middle East, North Africa and Iberia. It gets muddy when it short-shrifts the Norse and Magyar incursions of the Middle Middle Ages. Seriously, the Magyars get about two paragraphs. Then it bogs down with the Crusades. I realize it's a hugely important series of events, but there were only a few changes in tactical doctrine on both sides, mostly due to who was playing defense. Then it really gets lost in doting on the rise of heavy cavalry, before slogging interminably in the 100 Years War.

Still I liked it. There was stuff in there that I found interesting and useful. There were a couple of pages on the Swiss mercenaries that have forever changed my opinion of the halberd. For soemthing like that, I'm glad I read this.

[T. Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book even though it would not be everyone's favourite. It has a massive historical scope, covering about 1000 years beginning with the barbarian invasions of Italy in the 6th century. Certainly you can get more interesing insight from a book that covers only a period of 100 years or less, but this is the first book that cleared my head about the successive waves of invasions of Europe - Goths, Vandals, Huns, Magyars, Muslims - followed by the rise and fall of successive kingdoms. It has its weak spots to be sure, but the sections that I found particularly interesting were those about the development of the Merovingian Frankish kingdoms, the Muslim invasion of Spain, the rise of the armoured warrior, and the rise of the independent Italian states and the condotierri.

[Rudyard L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing book on Medieval warfare. It contains a good analysis on tactics, armor and strategy during the Middle Ages. As a military history buff who specializes in Medieval Warfare, this is one of the best books on the topic. The book is filled with arcane knowledge one can't find anywhere else. A con is that you already need to know a lot about the topic before you can read this book.

[Paul McNamee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting overview of the Middle Ages. Good information where the author chose to drill down, but certainly not every aspect was covered. Personally, I would have liked more Dark Ages information, but I suppose that's why they are called the Dark Ages. ;)

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Santosuosso is intensely fascinated with antique military hardware and tactics, so this one must be approached cautiously. There are breakdowns of some of the more notable battles of his time period (e.g. Agincourt, Crecy, Hastings) but this is fundamentally a look at the tools of the trade.

[Debbie Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like his conversational writing style. It reads more like a story rather than a historical text.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good basic outline of several VAST time periods in Europe, recommended to jog your memory or to at least whet your appetite for a deeper scope.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the movement of tribe and civilizations from the fall of Rome to the Renascence. Not bad worth reading just to get the time frame of movements in your head if nothing else.

[Adam Windsor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine overview of the major causes and courses of warfare during the period from the 5th century to the 15th. It covers the early kingdoms of western Europe in the wake of the fall of Rome, the rise of Islam, and the ongoing conflict that emerged wherever those two groups met. Addressing questions of tactics, equipment and strategy alike, the book's only real shortcoming is that it sometimes covers items more briefly than I would have liked.