Arab Archery: An Arabic Manuscript of About A.D. 1500 Paperback – January 10, 2023

I bought this book because I was fascinated with the consistent historical accounts of how lethal and effective the Hun's archers were. I bought this book to learn how they and other archers from the surrounding areas perfected their craft. Totally different mindset to modern archery and I love it. Much more fun to use a classic style Mongolian Horse Bow with a thumb ring and no sights or nock rest (in my opinion). Check out Lars Andersen's archery videos on YouTube if you missed the first wave of them going viral. Perfect example of someone breathing new life into an almost forgotten art of Eastern Style Archery.

Loved the E-book for the mindblowing insight into ancient archery, and decided to get the physical (the aim to learn rapid fire like Lars Anderson).I did not realize it even had illustrations (which the B&N E-book lacks), and was so stoked to see the finger numerals and nocking / drawing positions that I had to leave a review. I feel terrible for past reviewers with poorly printed copies, but I absolutely love mine, and look forward to putting the buttery smooth '63' draw into practice. One day I'll fire 3 arrows in 1.5 seconds... one day... :3

The one real negative, which anyone who owns other Kessinger Publishing books should come to expect, is that the text is a copy from either the original source, or as is the case here, from a translation published in 1940 or 1945 (not sure which). Some of these books have better quality print than others, and I would say this book is overall very good.The worst quality is probably the images you can't really see on p41 showing the Turkish bow & siper, and a demonstration of the "63" lock, and again on p97 showing knots, and the image of bows is about 45% visible. The Arabic finger reckoning image and the "6-different draws (locks) are great. The rest of the text is quite clear. Here is an interesting quote:On p26 it says, "The archer can determine the weight of his bow in several ways. One way is to take his bow, brace it, grasp the grip with his left hand, hold the string with the index, middle, and ring finger of his right hand, and then draw the string up to the elbow of the left arm. Next, release the ring finger and continue to draw until the full length of the arrow is drawn. If he can hold the drawn bow without shaking or trembling or straining, this will be the limit of his own draw and the one fit for aiming and shooting. If, on the other hand, at the release of the ring finger, his hand should shake and tremble and be unable to draw the string to the full arrow length, then the bow is a heavier one than he can handle."There are 47 chapters and the table of contents includes:1) On the Holy War and Service of Archery Therein2) The Excellence of the Arab Bow3) Different kinds of Bows4) Nomenclature5) On the Master Archers6) Principles of Loosing7) Determining Various Factors of the Bow8) Bracing9) Curvature10) Draws & Locks11) Aiming & Releasing12) Injuries & Treatment13) Corrections14) Causing the Arrow to Move in Flight15) Wind16) Strings17) Arrows, Targets, AccessoriesThere's a lot more but that's the basics. This book is excellent for anyone interested in traditional archery or looking for primary source information on old world archery.

This book is a great source of ancient archery knowledge and techniques. I have recently been experimenting with speed shooting techniques on my longbow and grozer scythian bow, and since i live in the southern United States there are very few shops and ranges that focus on true traditional archery, and definitely not speed shooting. this book is full of different finger positions, drawing techniques, remedies for various archery injuries (forearm bruise, blistered fingers, etc.), history of arabic archery, etc. anyone trying to increase their speed and efficiency should definitely read this book.

The content of the book is definitely interesting. Some of the techniques I didn't even know existed even though I'm exposed to western and Asian styles of archery. Even though I managed to get a copy of the original Arabic manuscript, and I speak Arabic at native level, still I find the translation great, even easier to understand on few occasions. The photos and diagrams are all great contribution added by the editor and translator as they don't exist in the manuscript.Would have given the book 5-star except for the fact that the physical aspects of the book are depressingly awful. First, it's not printed by a press, but copied by home-quality copier. To make matters worse, the source book they copied from is apparently a used book, so on some pages you find scribbles on the margins!My advice is: it's not worth paying for this book if you're not going to receive a professional quality book. If you are interested in the content, the book is available for free on the internet. Just go to archerylibrary do t co m and read it for free. If you prefer it in physical form, print it on your home printer, you'd get the same quality as this book anyway. And to be clear I'm not paid to promote that website, and not affiliated with it in any kind, I just found it on Google.

I bought this book for my son who is really interested in archery. He read it cover to cover and said it is a brilliant and very informative book. Highly recommend for archery enthusiasts

A nicely bound (better quality paperback cover and adhesive binding) piece of crap! This publisher has fully demonstrated that they care nothing of the consumer's interest or needs. Rather; what concerns are carried forth with the manner of content quality is the publisher's singular intent to foist a low level crime upon it's purchasers by emptying their wallet of a few dollards. What good is an instructional manuscript if the images referenced therein are completely uncomprehendable and unuseable as printed (every image is 98% blacked out).DO NOT BUY FROM THIS PUBLISHER! You will be completely disappointed in the product.