Osprey Men-at-Arms 222 : The Age of Tamerlane

Tamerlane or Timur-i-Lenk ['Timur the Lame'], is one of the most extraordinary conquerors in history. Within half a lifetime his armies seized huge territories from the borders of Mongolia to Palestine and Anatolia. Mighty states accepted - at least nominally - Timur's overlordship as they cowered before his apparently irresistible armies. His passage was also marked by massacres that outdid even those of the Mongols for sheer savagery. Small wonder that the fame of this complex and nightmarish character spread into Europe, where Timur became the subject not only of Christopher Marlowe's famous play Tamberlaine the Great but also of works by Spanish, French and other English writers as well as German, Italian and Czech composers. Timur's career was unequalled since Alexander the Great in terms of constant battlefield success. Only in his youth, while recovering his family estates south of Samarqand, did Timur face occasional defeat. He led armies on campaigns whose brutality was unmatched until the 20th century; yet he failed to destroy any of his main foes, despite defeating them in battle. Even more remarkable though, was the fact that Timur was over 40 years old before setting out to conquer an empire. David Nicolle tells the remarkable story of Timur and details the organisation, tactics, arms and armour of his all-conquering army accompanied by plenty of illustrations, including eight full page colour plates by Angus McBride.

Contents

• The Lame Conqueror
• Timur's World
• Timur's Army
• Strategy, Tactics and Seige Warfare
• The Later Timurids
• Foes of the Timurids
• Arms and Armour
• The Plates