Polish Winged Hussar 1576–1775

Polish Winged Hussar 1576–1775
Author: Richard Brzezinski
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2006-07-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781841766508

This book examines the origins and development of the Polish 'Winged' Hussars. Using many years' painstaking research drawn from unpublished Polish sources, the author provides a rounded view of the training, tactics, appearance and experiences of these legendary and fascinating warriors. Most dramatic of all Hussar characteristics were the 'wings' worn on the back or on the saddle, although not all Hussars wore them, and their purpose has been fiercely debated. The Hussars terrified the Turks, Tatars, Muscovite boyars, Ukrainian Cossacks and Swedes, who did everything to avoid facing them directly in battle.

Medieval Polish Armies 966–1500

Medieval Polish Armies 966–1500
Author: David Nicolle
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2012-02-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1780964560

The history of Poland is a fascinating story of a people struggling to achieve nationhood in the face of internal and external conflict. Poland became a unified Christian state in AD 966 and by the 12th century a knightly class had emerged a force that was integral to the defence of Poland against increasingly frequent foreign invasions. Intent on crushing rival Christian states, the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights all mounted attacks but were beaten back by the Poles, as were invading Mongols and Turks. This book reveals the organisation, equipment and battle histories of the medieval Polish armies as they developed and modernised to emerge as one of the dominant powers of Eastern Europe.

Polish Armies 1569–1696 (2)

Polish Armies 1569–1696 (2)
Author: Richard Brzezinski
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Total Pages: 52
Release: 1987
Genre: History
ISBN:

The 17th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was almost as varied as modern America. Alongside Slavs lived Lithuanians and other Balts, Germans, Tatars, Armenian merchants, Jewish traders, and even a remarkably large populations of Scots. This variety of cultures had a strong influence on the Polish army. Along with the predominantly Polish and Lithuanian 'winged' hussars served numerous foreigners from both within and outside the Commonwealth: Tatars and Cossacks, Wallachians, Transylvanians, Moldavians, Hungarians, Serbians and Albanians; and from the West, French, Italians, Dutch, Walloons, Swedes and Scots. Richard Brzezinski's companion volume to Men-at-Arms 184 completes his fascinating examination of Polish armies from 1569-1696.

Fashion, New Edition

Fashion, New Edition
Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2019-09-03
Genre: Design
ISBN: 0744022827

The definitive guide to the history of fashion. From Ancient Egypt and Marie Antionette to Alexander McQueen and Chanel, this visually stunning fashion design book charts the evolution of clothing and shows how every generation reinvents fashion! The perfect fashion coffee table book! Here’s what you’ll find inside: • Covers the most important fashion periods in vivid detail, from ancient times to the present day, in extensive catalog spreads • From a crinoline to a Givenchy gown, specially photographed “virtual tours” of classic pieces spotlight the details that make up a masterpiece • Profiles showcase the key styles and works of trailblazing designers, describing how they have influenced the clothes we wear • Beautiful double-page images from fashion archives show how people have embraced fashion in every era and place fashion in its cultural context The fashion industry is yours to explore! Packed with a dazzling combination of original fashion plates, archive images and commissioned photography, Fashion takes you on a fabulous tour across the centuries! It catalogs the history of what people wear — revealing how Western fashion has been influenced by design from around the world — and celebrating everything from costumes to haute couture. Now fully revised and updated, this lavishly illustrated book about fashion includes recent subjects of interest including the increased role of social media, fast fashion, sustainable fashion, and the drive for improved diversity and beauty ideals. The illustrated glossary of technical terms and a comprehensive index help make this page-turning fashion book an indispensable work of reference for any fashion student or fashionista’s shelf. Look out for more titles in The Definitive Visual Guide series from DK. Experience the power of art and take a guided tour of the world’s most influential paintings in Art, or celebrate the history and evolution of design movements in Design.

The Cossack Myth

The Cossack Myth
Author: Serhii Plokhy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2012-07-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 1139536737

In the years following the Napoleonic Wars, a mysterious manuscript began to circulate among the dissatisfied noble elite of the Russian Empire. Entitled The History of the Rus', it became one of the most influential historical texts of the modern era. Attributed to an eighteenth-century Orthodox archbishop, it described the heroic struggles of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Alexander Pushkin read the book as a manifestation of Russian national spirit, but Taras Shevchenko interpreted it as a quest for Ukrainian national liberation, and it would inspire thousands of Ukrainians to fight for the freedom of their homeland. Serhii Plokhy tells the fascinating story of the text's discovery and dissemination, unravelling the mystery of its authorship and tracing its subsequent impact on Russian and Ukrainian historical and literary imagination. In so doing he brilliantly illuminates the relationship between history, myth, empire and nationhood from Napoleonic times to the fall of the Soviet Union.

Dilettanti

Dilettanti
Author: Bruce Redford
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2008-08-07
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0892369248

Bruce Redford re-creates the vibrant culture of connoisseurship in Enlightenment England by investigating the multifaceted activities and achievements of the Society of Dilettani. Elegantly and wittily he dissects the British connoisseurs whose expeditions, collections, and publications laid the groundwork for the Neoclassical revival and for the scholarly study of Graeco-Roman antiquity. After the foundation of the society in 1732, the Dilettani commissioned portraits of the members. Including a striking group of mock-classical and mock-religious representations, these portraits were painted by George Knapton, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Sir Thomas Lawrence. During the second half of the century, the society’s expeditions to the Levant yielded a series of pioneering architectural folios, beginning with the first volume The Antiquities of Athens in 1762. These monumental volumes aspired to empirical exactitude in text and image alike. They prepared the way for Specimens of Antient Sculpture (1809), which combines the didactic (detailed investigations into technique, condition, restoration, and provenance) with the connoisseurial (plates that bring the illustration of ancient sculpture to new artistic heights). The Society of Dilettanti’s projects and publications exemplify the Enlightenment ideal of the gentleman amateur, which is linked in turn to a culture of wide-ranging curiosity.

The Enemy at the Gate

The Enemy at the Gate
Author: Andrew Wheatcroft
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2009-04-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786744545

In 1683, an Ottoman army that stretched from horizon to horizon set out to seize the "Golden Apple," as Turks referred to Vienna. The ensuing siege pitted battle-hardened Janissaries wielding seventeenth-century grenades against Habsburg armies, widely feared for their savagery. The walls of Vienna bristled with guns as the besieging Ottoman host launched bombs, fired cannons, and showered the populace with arrows during the battle for Christianity's bulwark. Each side was sustained by the hatred of its age-old enemy, certain that victory would be won by the grace of God. The Great Siege of Vienna is the centerpiece for historian Andrew Wheatcroft's richly drawn portrait of the centuries-long rivalry between the Ottoman and Habsburg empires for control of the European continent. A gripping work by a master historian, The Enemy at the Gate offers a timely examination of an epic clash of civilizations.