Osprey Publishing

Hittite Warrior - Warrior Series

by  Trevor Bryce

Reviewed By  Paul Bradley, IPMS# 35554

MSRP: $17.95 ISBN: 9781846030819 Paperback; 64 pages Thanks to Osprey Publishing (www.ospreypublishing.com) for the review copy. The Hittites were an ancient people of what is now central Turkey, and built one of the first Middle Eastern empires from the 18th century BC. Reaching a peak in the 14th century BC, the Hittites even challenged the might of the New Kingdom of Egypt, culminating in the Battle of Kadesh in what is now southern Syria in 1274 BC. Civil war and dynastic squabbles weakened the empire such that the constant depredations of the mysterious Sea Peoples finally caused the collapse of Hittite hegemony by the late 12th Century BC, and today, just a few reminders of this once powerful kingdom remain. This latest in Osprey's Warrior series deals with these fearsome people, though as surviving records are pretty scarce much of the text takes the form of deduction and informed supposition. Nevertheless, it is instructive to read about these early warriors - the Battle of Kadesh is one of the first battles for which we have any sort of narrative. Bruce not only deals with the soldiers' life, but the lives of ordinary Hittites as well to place the military into context. The text is accompanied by the accomplished artwork of Adam Hook, and some less than inspiring still photos taken from a recent 'docudrama' about the Hittites. One presumes that their inclusion means that the film costumes are historically accurate? As someone who generally does not like these 'reconstructions' - I do not place much faith in most film makers' quest for accuracy - these to me are of questionable value. While there are a number of good learned books and articles about the Hittites, this new volume is a useful primer on the subject and as such I can recommend it to the modeller and wargamer. Our sincere thanks to Osprey for the review sample. Osprey books are available from their website (www.ospreypublishing.com), or from leading hobby retailers.

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