About This Book

A Leading Expert on Traditional Archery Offers Insight Into How the Longbow Was Drawn from Medieval Sources to Modern Recreations

“Soar’s book [The Crooked Stick] is indispensible.”—Bernard Cornwell, New York Times bestselling author

Relying on more than fifty years’ experience in archery, historian Hugh D. H. Soar and his wife Veronica-Mae, reflect on how the longbow was drawn and shot across the centuries through examining the design of the bow and early literature about the bow, combined with his and his colleagues’ applied knowledge using replica bows. No complete medieval longbow has survived, but those found aboard the Tudor warship Mary Rose provide the best archaeological evidence to the possible construction of the medieval bow. Contemporary treatises written about the proper manner of shooting the bow, together with the resurgence in interest and construction of replica bows beginning in the late sixteenth century that form part of the author’s collection provide the basis for this work. How to Shoot the Longbow: A Guide from Historical and Applied Sources is a fascinating and practical look at the use of a legendary invention.

Hugh D. H. Soar is one of the world’s leading experts in the history of archery, particularly the design and use of the longbow. He is author of a number of important books on archery, including The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow, The Romance of Archery: A Social History of the Longbow, and, with Joseph Gibbs, Christopher Jury, and Mark Stretton, Secrets of the English War Bow.