Fighting off brigands and thieves while exploring the wild. Searching for better quality weapons and armor. Exploring twisting tunnels and dark caverns while fighting increasingly difficult monsters. Fans of role-playing video games enjoy all these things and more. But what is the true story behind today's popular role-playing games? What were the most effective medieval weapons and armor? What were medieval villages and cities really like? What inspired...

A spirited and sweeping account of how the crusades really worked—and a revolutionary attempt to rethink how we understand the Middle Ages.

Beyond the chivalry and adventure often presented in fictional works, the medieval era was marked by frequent military conflict. The tools for war employed by soldiers, knights, archers, and other combatants on the battlefield and in bloody sieges are richly rendered in this book. This book explores the use of cavalry, castle fortifications, and military tactics, and it is illustrated with imagery sure to underscore the immediacy and harshness of...

In medieval times, knights were the most powerful soldiers on the battlefield. This book explores how they lived, fought, and died, and why they eventually disappeared altogether. You can find out how they waged war, what weapons they used and what they did when they were not in battle.