New archaeological material and research underpins this extensive, detailed and beautifully illustrated account of the famous Mamluk Askars who are credited with finally defeating and expelling the Crusaders, halting the Mongol invasion of the Islamic Middle East, and facing down Tamerlane. Probably the ultimate professional soldiers of the medieval period they were supposedly recruited as adolescent slaves, though recent research has begun to undermine this oversimplified interpretation of what has been called the "Mamluk phenomenon".

New archaeological material and research underpins this extensive, detailed and beautifully illustrated account of the famous Mamluk Askars who are credited with finally defeating and expelling the Crusaders, halting the Mongol invasion of the Islamic Middle East, and facing down Tamerlane. Probably the ultimate professional soldiers of the medieval period they were supposedly recruited as adolescent slaves, though recent research has begun to undermine this oversimplified interpretation of what has been called the "Mamluk phenomenon".

In Europe the Mamluks of Egypt are remembered as so-called 'Slave Kings' who drove out the Crusaders from the Holy Land; but they were far more than that. Though its frontiers barely changed, the Mamluk Sultanate remained a 'great power' for two and a half centuries. Its armies were the culmination of a military tradition stretching back to the 8th century, and provided a model for the early Ottoman Empire, whose own armies reached the gates of Vienna only twelve years after the Mamluks were overthrown. This absorbing text by David Nicolle explores the organisation and tactics of these fascinating people.

Warfare in the Age of Crusades: The Latin East explores in fascinating detail the key campaigns, battles and sieges that shaped the crusading period of the Middle Ages, giving special attention to military technologies, tactics and strategies. Key personalities and political factors are addressed, including the role of papal monarchy in initiating the crusading expeditions, the relationship between Catholic Europe and the Byzantine empire, the role of the religious military orders, and Islamic and Mongol military capabilities. Chapters are devoted to each of the major crusades to the Levant – First, Second, Third and Fourth crusades – and an analysis of the Islamic response. The rise of the Mamluks in Egypt, with their innovative military organization, is covered, as are the failed Egyptian and Tunisian campaigns. The concluding chapters describe the Mongol campaigns in the Levant, the Mamluk response, and the final siege of Acre in 1291. This original and perceptive study of a key stage in medieval military history features regional, strategic and multi-phase tactical maps that illuminate the narrative and provide a valuable resource for students, historians and wargamers alike.

Step into the violent world of the 13th century, where the European states of the Levant battled with Muslim powers for control of Jerusalem. At the cutting edge of the conflict were the elite fighting men of the Crusader and Egyptian armies – the Knights Templar and the Mamluks, respectively. The Templars were the most famous and formidable of the European Military Orders, while the Mamluks were a slave caste whose fighting prowess had elevated them to the point of holding real political power, threatening their Ayyubid masters who relied on them so desperately for military success. This book draws on the latest research to tell the story of three key engagements from the Fifth Crusade to the Seventh Crusade. It reveals the extraordinary ferocity with which these battles were fought, and how the struggle between Templar and Mamluk came to shape the political future of the region.

In Mamluks and Animals: Veterinary Medicine in Medieval Islam Housni Alkhateeb Shehada offers the first comprehensive study of veterinary medicine, its practitioners and its patients in the medieval Islamic world, with special emphasis on the Mamluk period (1250-1517).

For sixty years, from 1260 to 1323, the Mamluk state in Egypt and Syria was at war with the Ilkhanid Mongols based in Persia. This is the first comprehensive study of the political and military aspects of the early years of the war, from the battle of 'Ayn Jalut in 1260 to the battle of Homs in 1281. In between these campaigns, the Mamluk-Ilkhanid struggle was continued in the manner of a 'cold war' with both sides involved in border skirmishes, diplomatic manoeuvres, and espionage. Here, as in the major battles, the Mamluks usually maintained the upper hand, establishing themselves as the foremost Muslim power at the time. By drawing on previously untapped Persian and Arabic sources, the author sheds new light on the confrontation, examining the war within the context of Mongol/Mamluk relations with the Byzantine Empire, the Latin West and the Crusading states.