Ozbow

Has anyone had contact with this publication?

The book was written by Clive Bartlett and Gerry Embleton. It was published by Osprey Publishing in 1995.
It would appear that there was a revision in 1999.
Although I was able to preview some of the pages of this book on the internet I would like a second opinion.

Daryl.

Greybeard, I have this book and its a great introduction to the English archers history but like all the Osprey books its meant as a quick guide or reference not a detailed study. It does have some handy info in it but also has some that has been proved wrong with the study of the Mary Rose bows. It generally talks of the bows as being much smaller then they really were , like most books on the subject written before the studies were done but that said I'd say its a good buy for the price. A lot dearer but much better are Hardy's ' Longbow' and Strickland & Hardy's ' The Great Warbow' or the books by Hugh D. H. Soar and Jim Bradbury's ' Medieval Archer ' is not a bad read as well but the first two are the best.

Len,

Thank you for the information.
Possibly I should be concentraiting more on books covering ancient weapons.
Do you have any suggestions for books etc that cover the design and construction of medieval bows?

Daryl.

The Great Warbow - English Longbows only.

The problem in researching bow making in the middle ages is that each bowyer taught an apprentice and pretty much kept a lot of his info to himself to pass on in person. In those days they didn't write books on the subject to give their rivals a leg up.
The closest thing to what you are after I think is in Secrets of the English Warbow by Hugh D.h. Soar or those couple of other books I recommended. Soar's book has a chapter on the construction of the bows as well as a lot of info on forging arrow heads and such. Hope this helps

Grahame and Len,

Thank you for the information, your help is appreciated.

Daryl.