A kind review from Phil Paine

Phil has written a short review of my book Deeds of Arms. I reprint it here largely because it contains one beautiful passage I wish I'd written, and which I will want to refer to in the future:

(Steven Muhlberger) Deeds of Arms ― Formal Combats in the Late Fourteenth Century

Steve has outdone himself with this parvum opus. It's an exemplary work of focused history, with everything there in the right quantities and proportions. Medieval western Europe was a military society in which tournaments --- group or single combat done by rules and for the display of prowess --- had a profound significance, affecting far more than their immediate participants. Success in deeds of arms could bring more mere celebrity. In a society where aristocracy justified itself itself primarily by courage in battle, it was the key to upward mobility and power. Learning how this kind of combat nullo interveniente odio (without rancor) was done and celebrated gives us insight into how medieval society worked. The Middle Ages, especially its upper reaches of power, smelled of blood, sweat, dung and horses. This book is a fine antidote to those that retrofit the era with a kind of abstract geopolitical aura, something like an EU Barosso Comission report delivered by board members unaccountably wearing hose and plate armor. Those who have only a passing interest in chivalry or deeds of arms will find this book refreshingly compact, clear and informative. Those with a deeper interest will not find it wanting in depth of scholarship and understanding.

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