The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare - An Illustrated Guide to the Battles, Armies and Armor of Middle-Earth

WOW!! This is - bar none - the best "The Return of the King" movie tie-in book in the market right now. The others being "The Return of the King Photo Guide" and "The Return of the King Visual Companion.," that is. Along with Brian Sibley's "The Making of the Movie Trilogy" (released in 2002) and the "Art of" series, this is one of those books that you will want to keep and refer to again and again. It is one of the most amazingly detailed, visually rich and impressively researched books on the LOTR movie trilogy that you will likely come across.I am a huge fan of "The Lord of the Rings." "Huge" in the sense that I have read the books multiple times in the last several years, own the theatrical and extended versions of the films, and have read Tolkien's other books - including "The Silmarillion" and "The Unfinished Tales." You may say I am more than your standard fan and that it takes a lot to impress me. This book, however, impressed me. What is commendable about this book is the amount of information it contains and the painstaking research that author Chris Smith has done to bring this book about. He clearly has done his homework and not only researched "The Lord of the Rings" books but also collaborated closely with WETA (the special/visual effects wizards behind the movie trilogy), director Peter Jackson and crew. There are references to "The Hobbit", "The Unfinished Tales," and "The Lord of the Rings" (including the appendices) sprinkled throughout this book. That, to me, is remarkable.This fantastic book covers all of the notable warriors (good and bad), battles and skirmishes that took place throughout the trilogy as well as the respective armor, weapons, cultures, fighting styles and (where applicable) battle plans/strategies that we see in the films. For the warriors, everyone from Aragorn, Boromir, Isildur, Theoden, Eomer, Denethor, Gandalf, Legolas, the hobbits and Gimli to the Easterlings, the Corsairs of Umbar, the Haradrim, Sauron, the Army of the Dead (yes!) and the various types of Orcs and Uruk-hai are featured in this book. Their weapons and armor (weapon descriptions, names, pictures/drawings, and inscriptions, etc) are described in detail. For instance, differences between the various orcs (berserker uruk-hai, Mordor orc, Moria orc, etc) and their specific roles and functions are shown. The Rohirric and Gondorian cultures are explored - their emblems, flags, origins, weaponry, etc. There is a battle plan for the Battle of the Second Age, Helms Deep and The Battle of Pelennor Fields also in this book. Even the skirmish in the Mines of Moria is included.In summary, even the most discerning Lord of the Rings fan will enjoy this book. If you think you know everything about the books or films, there are bound to be a few facts or images in this book that will surprise you. At 224 pages, this is a hefty book and each page is loaded with information. It is not all text, however. There are hundreds of beautiful illustrations and full-color pictures that really are a feast for those who are big on visuals. I highly recommend it!

Really fun coffee table book for LOTR nerds

I agree with most reviewers that this is a very nice addition to any fan's LOTR collection. There's a wealth of great photos, interesting information regarding the weapons, battles and background to so many of the key moments of the LOTR epic. The layouts are well done and the book is highly enjoyable to read.That said, I also have to agree that the inconsistencies in Weapons and Warfare with the LOTR books (and sometimes the movies themselves) can at times be highly annoying. For example, Weapons and Warfare states in a couple of places that the Witch King defeated Gandalf and broke his staff during the battle of the Pelennor Fields. Even if this had been depicted in the movie, which I did not find to be the case at least in the DVD version that I have, the Weapons and Warfare author later seemingly contradicts himself when he states that the Witch King "may have been the equal of Gandalf".In spite of its shortcomings, I still feel that Weapons and Warfare is well worth having. As a suggestion, you might consider getting a "like new" copy like I did and save yourself a lot of dollars without shortchanging your enjoyment of the book.

I love this book for its pictures. But the author is a complete novice about weaponry, armor and tactics. Some of the more uninformed things he says are "plates of mail" really? "firing a bow" so your gonna put that in the campfire? "The throwing axes were also used for a distance weapon" , thats amazing why would they be called that? "The Rohan" as if thats proper? Making broad statements and generalizations with opinons so they sound as though they are incontrovertible facts, "never missed and took only one arrow to kill", huh?Another favorite a "phalanx of cavalry" using a specifically ancient greek term to describe a fantasy cultures cavalry formation, a huge incongrous anachronism and the phalanx was an infantry formation in reality. So next time mr author do the research know the subject matter and consult an expert to have him read what you are going to say. Moronic. Multiple face palms. Authors who do not own their subject matter are inexcusable, this book proves it. I have 2 copies and at some point i think i will go through with a high lighter pen and mark everything thats just idiotic and then mail it to the author so he can improve. Honestly when i was a child of 10 years I knew the difference between mail and plate armor! Bows are never fired unless you are burning one.Now this is a book about the movies not the novels (epic sagas) they are based on, thats just fine with me. They are excellant films. They differ from the books but the films are more exciting and quite intricate this book shows nearly every character and their raiment and war gear, so its a visually pleasing book.All in all i love the book but the idiotic and avoidable literary and research failings of the author are frustrating.

Letto a casa di un amico, lo cercavo da tempo. Libro molto ben fatto, utile per "studiare" meglio il mondo di armi e armature utilizzate per le riprese dei film.

If you don't mind one piece being missing from a page (torn) it's in a very good overall state. I would totally recommend the seller since the price is extremely low comparing to what you get.

Excellent Book with awesome ilustrations!!!! I am very happy with my purchase. I recommend it. This book is one of the best in my Tolkien collection.

I bought this book to use as an 'art' reference book, to study the pictures to draw with etc.. It has a lot of text but also a lot of good, large, colourful photographs to practice drawing with. I recommend it for artists who are in an advanced stage and want and need the practice that comes with drawing weaponry from photographs etc. The text is pretty fluffy and seemingly meant for tweens and young teens into the 'Lord of the Rings', or 'serious' Rings collectors etc..

西洋武器マニア、フィギア製作者、アクセサリー好きにオススメです。キャラクター別に装備品が解説され、写真の写りも良い上に、武具、衣装、装飾品の造りが素晴らしい完成度であるのが良く判る、ここまで鮮明に再現された本は数少ない。この本を買うことで意外な再発見があるでしょう。