But sometimes, you just can't afford to complain too much -- particularly when a book turns out to be a treasure trove of picture material like Artists and Warfare in the Renaissance. Author Hale focuses on the different artistic traditions depicting matters of war in the German and Italian cultural spheres. But even though most illustrations depict soldiers, warriors, knights, and Landsknechte in full fighting gear, the impression remains that what counts to Hale is the piece of paper or canvas, not the subject depicted.

Yet it doesn't matter. Not even the academic claptrap can obfuscate the brilliance of this book, which combines more iconographic sources on Renaissance arms, armor, and fighting men in one volume than most galleries and museums have in storage.

If you're even remotely interested in Renaissance weaponry in its proper context, there's no way around this book.