Another random recommendation from Academia, which may be of interest to Assyrophiles
https://www.academia.edu/620250/Davide_Nadali_2010_Assyrian_Open_Field_Battles._An_Attempt_at_Reconstruction_and_Analysis?email_work_card=title
Has anyone read this book: The Neo-Assyrian Shield: Evolution, Heraldry, and Associated Tactics, by Fabrice De Backer?
Curious to know your opinion on its scholarship.
Quote from: PMBardunias on August 26, 2019, 04:00:28 PM
Has anyone read this book: The Neo-Assyrian Shield: Evolution, Heraldry, and Associated Tactics, by Fabrice De Backer?
I've read it, yes. Not hugely impressed. Lots of indifferent line drawings, a propensity to give Assyrian shield types classical or modern names (aspis, scutum, gerrhon, rondache...) not all of which seem wholly appropriate (there are three Assyrian words for shield, but it is not clear what each means), and a short section on minor-tactical use of the shield types that to me seems almost entirely speculative. The author has accumulated a lot of illustrations from Assyrian art, some parallels from other eras of mixed relevance, and some plausible drawings of how the different types might have been constructed. Otherwise, I wasn't all that impressed with the scholarship displayed.
You are no doubt aware that some of his papers are at https://univie.academia.edu/FabriceDeBacker
Quote from: Duncan Head on August 27, 2019, 06:54:28 PM
Quote from: PMBardunias on August 26, 2019, 04:00:28 PM
Has anyone read this book: The Neo-Assyrian Shield: Evolution, Heraldry, and Associated Tactics, by Fabrice De Backer?
I've read it, yes. Not hugely impressed. Lots of indifferent line drawings, a propensity to give Assyrian shield types classical or modern names (aspis, scutum, gerrhon, rondache...) not all of which seem wholly appropriate
That was my take as well- the anachronistic naming of shields drove me mad. I happened upon it and was impressed with his drawing analogies to Saxon shield walls. The universality of shield wall formations is something that I think gets lost in minor differences between cultures. Unfortunately, he does not take it far past using Germanic names for battle phases in the same way he lifts shieled names form other cultures.