Richard Osgood

Featuring brilliant photography, this book explores the innovative recovery programme that supports wounded soldiers through involvement in archaeology.

The Bronze Age, so named because of the technological advances in metalworking and countless innovations in the manufacture and design of tools and weapons, is among the most fascinating periods in human history. Archaeology has taught us much about the way of life, habits and homes of Bronze Age people, but as yet little has been written about warfare. What was Bronze Age warfare like? How did people fight and against whom? What weapons were used? Did they fortify their settlements, and, if so, were these intended as defensive or offensive structures? This detailed and fully illustrated study of warfare in Bronze Age Europe, aims to answer these and many other questions.

A tale of the 'poor bloody infantry' and what we glean of their lot from prehistory right through to World War I. This book compares the life of the soldier across time and cultures. It includes the great battles of medieval Europe.

Using the surviving evidence of conflict and battle - fortifications, weapons and armour, burials and human remains - this study offers an insight into war and society in Europe during the Bronze Age. The authors seek to understand the role played by aggression and war the prehistoric world. Aiming for a balanced view of warfare, by looking at the range of significant evidence from across Europe, they interpret the wealth of archaeological material to investigate how sites were defended, what weapons were used, how they were used, where fighting took place, what types of injuries were sustained, how warriors were treated in death, how warfare was represented, and what role it played in ancient European societies. The text reviews the research in the field and describes the sometimes controversial interpretations that have led to rapid advances in our understanding of society and conflict in the ancient world.

This study looks at a variety of evidence for warfare in the Late Bronze Age in North Europe: from revealing the evidence from actual combat damage sustained or caused by some of the artifacts in the archaeological record, to the exploration of the meaning of hillforts. In the end a convincing general picture of the existence and types of warfare emerges.