The walls of Constantinople are the greatest surviving example of European medieval military architecture in the world. They withstood numerous sieges until being finally overcome by the artillery of Mehmed the Conqueror in 1453, and exist today as a time capsule of Byzantine and Medieval history. T[...]
From the 10th century onwards the great monastic foundations of Nara and Mount Hiei maintained large armies of warlike monks, a practice that was later followed by other institutions. The tempestuous political rivalries that developed between the different orders of monks, and even factions within t[...]
From his seat in Xanadu, the great Mongol Emperor of China, Kubla Khan, had long plotted an invasion of Japan. However, it was only with the acquisition of Korea, that the Khan gained the maritime resources necessary for such a major amphibious operation. Written by eastern warfare expert Stephen Tu[...]
A brilliant but little-known operation, the Shimazu clan raid on the independent kingdom of Rykyu (modern Okinawa) in 1609 is one of the most extraordinary episodes in samurai history and the culmination of centuries of rivalry between the two powers. The defeat of the Shimazu at Sekigahara in 1600,[...]
Osprey's examination of the campaign at Nagashino in 1575. When Portuguese traders took advantage of the constant violence in Japan to sell the Japanese their first firearms, one of the quickest to take advantage of this new technology was the powerful daimyo Oda Nobunaga. In 1575 the impetuous Take[...]