"The Lord of the Rings" Weapons and Warfare

View books by Chris Smith.

A gem that could have done with a bit more polishing! (Cheesy, haha!) - Rated
Aside from my cheesy headline, this book can be represented quite nicely! I'm a big LOTR fan (books/films alike) and to the extent of Peter Jackson's trilogy this book captures relative information in quite suprising depth. However, this information as I have said has noticably been based on the films - if you are a hard-core Tolkien fan you may become a little frustrated by the lack of information and what has been stated about the various bit'n bobs throughout 'The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare'. I have also noticed that the book has been rather poorly put together and the fact that it is only available in paper-back doesn't help either - pages will begin to simply fall out and of course you'll get the creasing of the cover (this can be easily fixed with a bit of selotape, so no worries there). HOWEVER, aside from these very SMALL set-backs this is a great book and will provide you with a powerful insight into the world of The Lord of the Rings and is deffinately worth picking up (especially at the current price :D )

This book is Amazing! - Rated
The Information in this book is collosal in amount and near perfect in detail, well deserving of a 5 star rating.

The reason for it's star deduction is because since I bought it, about 4 months ago, every single page save the introduction have fallen out. I half expected a few to coem loose as noted by a previosu reviewer, but all of them, is just a complete joke.

Interesting but Quality bad - Rated
This book seems very interesting. I ordered it off from amazon the first time i opened it one page falls out then the next, and the pages keep on fallling out so far 28 pages have fallen out and i dont even want to know what will happen if i open the next 2.

Warfair - Rated
"Not another 'Lord of the Rings' tie-in book!" you may be groaning. In the wake of the hit movie trilogy, there have been plenty of books of photos and Middle-Earth info -- some good, some bad, some just blah. But don't start shunning the book displays just yet: "Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare" has plenty of good information yet.

It handles the more militaristic aspects of the "Lord of the Rings" films: Loads of swords, arrows (like the giant uruk-hai crossbows called "sappers"), shields and armor. There are also the more unusual allies that our heroes pick up (the unstoppable dead army of Dunharrow), battle plans (a step-by-step examination of the Pelennor Fields battle), unconventional weapons (the mumakil or "oliphaunts"), and sinister fortresses (the Black Gate).

There's also relevant biographical info about certain people like Elrond, Eowyn, Faramir, Eomer and Aragorn, and it stretches back to the first film with its stuff about Weathertop and Isildur. And, as a bonus, the extremely articulate Christopher Lee (the amazing actor behind Saruman) writes a brief but bright foreword, in which he talks about his love for myth and fantasy, the Tolkien books, the movies, and finally about what he hopes "Weapons and Warfare" will offer to the readers.

Admit it -- even the most peaceful person gets a little thrill when watching a hero felling a dozen evil beasties with a big legendary sword. There's something intensely exciting about swords, arrows and all medieval warfare, however bloody and freaky it may be. "Lord of the Rings" has an extra bonus: There's not only the multiple human civilizations (Gondorians, Rohirrim, Easterlings, Haradrim), but also Elves, Orcs, and Uruk-hai, as well as the ancient Numenorean civilization. More to love!

The only problem with the book is simple: those seeking information about how the authentic weapons, armor and war formations were created will be disappointed. So if you want to know about how they made all those weapons at Weta, how they managed to plan all those battles, you're out of luck. And if you're a book purist, you will be equally out of luck -- it sticks close by the films.

Even people who aren't fans of military history may be intrigued by the level of detail and richness in the "Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare." And, of course, Rings fans should check this out pronto.

Interesting - Rated
This is a fun, glossy book with plenty of pictures and sketches of the weapons featured in the LOTR films. It has plenty of nuggets of information for any fan.