Yang Hong

To begin with the bad, this has been translated by someone whose English frankly isn't very good, typographical errors abound, and the author subscribes to a nationalist-Marxist view of history.

Now, happily, this wasn't a book I bought primarily for the text; the main attraction is the illustrations of archaeological finds of weapons and armour, along with reconstructions and reproductions of period art showing weapons.

The time covered is from the later stone age to about the Yuan dynasty, show more which in military terms may be said to represent the beginning of the gunpowder age. Apparently due to a particularly great amount of archaeological material available, the greatest focus is on the Zhou, Warring States, and Han periods. show less