The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow

by Hugh D.H. Soar

Book Overview

"Spendidly enthusiastic. . . . Soar's book is indispensable."--Bernard Cornwell

"A fascinating study of a forgotten weapon. . . . For centuries the longbow dominated battle, affecting the fates of nations" - Wall Street Journal

"Bowyers, bowhunters, target archers and students of archery history should all find cause for celebration with Hugh Soar's concise but authoritative text." - Traditional Bowhunter

On a clear...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594160902
• ISBN13: 9781594160905
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Westholme Publishing
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

One of the great books on the storied history of the longbow

I read this book for a graduate course in medieval history. Hugh Soar is a great historian of the longbow. "The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow," is a great comprehensive work for the history of this medieval weapon of mass destruction. In his book, Featherstone has meticulously researched the history of the longbow, from ancient history through its greatest impact in warfare during the Hundred Years' War; specifically, the battles of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt. Soar turns his attention to the more detailed study of the longbow's genesis and development in Britain. It is definitively impossible to know when the longbow first came into existence in Britain. However, history does record several historical periods when we know that the longbow, or a weapon similar to it, was used and introduced by invaders of the British Isles. There is evidence that shows that the Germanic longbow made its way into Britain with the invasion of the Saxons in the fifth century. Viking law, from mid-tenth century, required that while aboard ship, fighting men must be equipped with bows and arrows as an addition to their other usual weapons that they employed in their raiding parties. One can still read Viking Sagas of the era extolling the use of bows and arrows as weapons. In 1055, Welsh bowmen while firing from hidden positions on mountain ridges, cut down the Earl of Hereford's Saxon cavalry with devastating effect. This action would be a great lesson lost on King Harold eleven years later, in his defeat at the battle of Hastings. King Harold did have some longbow men in the battle, if one takes the Bayeux Tapestry to be a true pictorial history of the Norman Conquest. Unfortunately, for the Anglo-Saxon army of King Harold, he had to travel very quickly over 250 miles south to engage the invading Normans, which prevented him from taking many archers on foot. In fact, the Bayeux Tapestry is famous for its depiction of King Harold being fatally shot in the eye by a Norman arrow, and thus, changing the course of British history forever. It is during the fourteenth century in Britain that the longbow gains its reputation as a force multiplier in battle. In military terminology, a force multiplier denotes a factor, in this case, the longbow providing a technological factor, dramatically increasing the combat capability of a military force. In keeping with the theme of our course in comparing fourteenth century events to modern times, one can easily equate the importance of the longbow to fourteenth century warfare in the same way that one can compare the importance that the machine gun had on early twentieth century warfare-specifically during World War I. The longbow provided the English armies of Edward I, through the end of the Hundred Years' War, a distinct and singular advantage over the French armies and their cavalry forces. Despite all of the early history of the longbow in Britain, it is Edward I who is the real progenitor of t

A Must-Read for Anyone Interested in the Longbow

In The Crooked Stick, Hugh Soar provides historically sound and wonderfully entertaining information about diverse aspects of the history of the longbow. Though he gives appropriate attention to the much-studied use of the longbow in the Hundred Years War, Soar begins his book with fascinating chapters about the early development of the bow and the place of the bow in the elaborate ritual of medieval hunting. After continuing through an excellent discussion of the English war bow, Soar moves on to the less familiar ground of the development of recreational and social archery in England, including the rise of the archery societies in the Victorian period. Throughout the book Soar maintains a pleasant, somewhat conversational style. The reader can easily imagine that he is listening to Mr. Soar as he gives a talk to one of the longbow societies in which he is well known. The combination of this agreeable tone with the well selected historical information makes for a thoroughly pleasurable and rewarding read. The Crooked Stick should be read by anyone with even a casual interest in the longbow, and should be added to the library of anyone with a deeper interest.

Right on the Mark

Hugh Soar's The Crooked Stick provides the exact information that military historians and historians of technology need. His knowledge is broad, his sources detailed, and his writing style is engaging. Too many persons who profess an interest in military history desire just the "blood and guts," but what makes Soar's book unique and essential is that he puts this important weapon--it dominated battlefields for an extraordinary two centuries--into full context. There are many accounts of battles where the longbow was deployed--including Soar's excellent "Of Bowmen and Battles"--but what I think makes The Crooked Stick one of the most important books on a weapon published in recent times is that he fully explores its origin, its physical details and construction (surprisingly, there are no extant medieval bows, so Soar's extensive knowledge is particularly appreciated here), its use on the battlefield, its demise, and its surprising legacy. The book is full of great close-in shots of antique longbows and other bow ephemera. The appendix that discusses the medieval arrowhead is also very good. There is, like all good history books, parts and passages that might not be exactly what you want for your specific interest--there are chapters on what happened to the medieval longbow and how its characteristics were luckily preserved through recreational archery--but if you want the best resource on the longbow, this is it.

Straight Shooting

A comprehensive survey of the history of the longbow, it is laced with fine quotations, excellent sources, and wonderful insights from the author's own experience as not only an archer, but a bowyer and fletcher as well. With a pleasant, conversational writing style, he covers everything from the earliest beginnings of the longbow as a hunting weapon through the rise of the artillery, or war, bow to the present status of the longbow as a sporting and recreational weapon. The main strength of this book is its completeness. Many books claim to be a history of the longbow, but in truth are a history of the great war bow that decided the outcome on the battlefields of Crecy and Agincourt. Rarely are the origins of the longbow and the post middle ages longbow ever considered in detail. Mr Soar doesn't make that mistake. This is probably the most complete survey of the subject you will find today. If you know nothing about the English longbow besides what you have seen on tv or in the movies reading this book will tell you everything you want to know, and far more. If you are someone who has read every book ever written on the subject read this book also, because you will learn something you didn't know.

"A saggitis hunorum, nos defende Domine"

The longbow, a pivotal technical development by mankind, had influenced the survival of humankind, as well as the outcome of battles from the earliest days of the medieval period, well into the period of Tudor monarchy till the opening of the 17th century. The longbow still the weapon of the people, required by statute law to own and use a bow with regularity, the skill of the Tudor yeoman archer firmly positioned in history, so feared that at one time they were compared to Attila's Huns (the Hunnish referring to the English and Welsh archers). Hugh D.H. Soar's latest book, "The Crooked Stick" is a comprehensive study and presentation of the amazing history of the traditional longbow. Presenting evidence of the use of archery from Neolithic rock paintings from Cueva de la Arana, Valencia, Spain, of our forebears hunting game to the application of the bow in warfare described in an account of the battle of Crecy, August 26, 1346 in the chronicles, "Chroniques" by Jean Froissart, to its continued evolution and staying power as recreational archery, promoted by notables such as King Henry VIII, the archer king, shooting with the longbow at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, 1520 to the creation of archery societies and guilds such as the Society of Finsbury Archers to modern associations active in many countries around the world. The expanse of the book included details on a concoction used to fabricate fire arrows based on an extensive recipe that included exotic materials such as Armeniac, an earthy material from Armenia, and bay salt from the Bay of Biscay. This and numerous other historic gems are invaluable in one developing an appreciation for archery. His writing style is personable, humerous in places, and even a little irreverent at times, combined with his intimate knowledge of the longbow in-depth study, along with extensive notes and references makes this publication required reading for any archer interested in learning more about the context, its place in history and evolution of the longbow. David M. Cvet Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts