Download or read book Mamluk ‘Askari 1250–1517 written by David Nicolle and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-11-20 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New archaeological material and research underpins this extensive, detailed and beautifully illustrated account of the famous Mamluk Askars who are credited with finally defeating and expelling the Crusaders, halting the Mongol invasion of the Islamic Middle East, and facing down Tamerlane. Probably the ultimate professional soldiers of the medieval period they were supposedly recruited as adolescent slaves, though recent research has begun to undermine this oversimplified interpretation of what has been called the "Mamluk phenomenon".