Midlist Writer: Medieval Handgonnes is a bestseller!

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Medieval Handgonnes is a bestseller!

My latest book from Osprey Publishing, Medieval Handgonnes: The First Black Powder Infantry Weapons, is number two on the company's bestseller list right now! Osprey comes out with dozens of books a year and has a backlist numbering well over a thousand titles, so this is very gratifying.

This book covers the development of early firearms from the early 1400s until the development of the matchlock more than a century later. While early firearms are generally considered have been more hazardous to the user than the target, I uncovered convincing evidence that they were a useful addition to the medieval arsenal. No other book in the English language exits on this subject, or as far as I can tell any other language, so this project involved a lot of original research and resulted in a one-of-a-kind volume.

I've been getting lots of good reviews for this title, including a recent one from The Wargamer. Actually this title has been getting quite a bit of attention from the wargaming community. The period covered in this book is a popular one for wargamers yet from what I hear there aren't many clear rules involving handgonnes. Perhaps I should learn more about wargaming to understand my readership better!

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