Hindu Arms and Ritual: Arms and Armour from India 1400-1865

Andrew · 20th March 2006, 05:32 AM

Great book: I look at it often.

I was one of those fortunate to hear the author speak at Timonium in 2004. He presented the advance copy and shared some of his research and writing process with us. Needless to say, the experience heightened my anticipation, and I wasn't at all dissappointed when I received my copy. Robert Elgood is a gentleman and scholar and has set the bar quite high.

Now, if I could find a reasonably priced copy of "Islamic Arms and Armour", I'd be a happy man...

B.I · 20th March 2006, 04:41 PM

i agree, its a fantastic in-depth research and a must for both novice and long-in-the-tooth :-)
robert merely scratches the surface and opens up many subjects for debate, which was his intention. it still leaves much work to be done, but i feel it is the most important book since egerton on indian arms.
my one gripe is the title, in that there are many islamic arms included in the book, so to corner hindu alone in the title is misleading. it would be a shame for readers to assume deccani daggers are hindu, which is not the case. hardly a gripe though as the content is a pleasure to read and the illustrations are wonderful.
any piece of writing can be critisized if broken down word for word, and any author puts his head on the block when published, but as a book this definately holds its own.
i hope others will take up the baton as its way too vast a subject for one man to cover (although he seems to be covering a lot of miles in his subject matters! - balkans next i believe)

20th March 2006, 04:41 PM	#2
B.I Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 485	i agree, its a fantastic in-depth research and a must for both novice and long-in-the-tooth :-) robert merely scratches the surface and opens up many subjects for debate, which was his intention. it still leaves much work to be done, but i feel it is the most important book since egerton on indian arms. my one gripe is the title, in that there are many islamic arms included in the book, so to corner hindu alone in the title is misleading. it would be a shame for readers to assume deccani daggers are hindu, which is not the case. hardly a gripe though as the content is a pleasure to read and the illustrations are wonderful. any piece of writing can be critisized if broken down word for word, and any author puts his head on the block when published, but as a book this definately holds its own. i hope others will take up the baton as its way too vast a subject for one man to cover (although he seems to be covering a lot of miles in his subject matters! - balkans next i believe) Last edited by B.I; 20th March 2006 at 05:43 PM.

20th March 2006, 05:32 AM	#1
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Great book: I look at it often. I was one of those fortunate to hear the author speak at Timonium in 2004. He presented the advance copy and shared some of his research and writing process with us. Needless to say, the experience heightened my anticipation, and I wasn't at all dissappointed when I received my copy. Robert Elgood is a gentleman and scholar and has set the bar quite high. Now, if I could find a reasonably priced copy of "Islamic Arms and Armour", I'd be a happy man...