I bought this book expecting a lot of good pictures and diagrams. I did get that; however, I didn't get anything else. The saving grace of the book is that the pictures are in fact excellent, and, it does say right on the front cover that the pictures are from ninteenth-century sources. The 1800s' aren't exactly known for their high quality of historical accuracy, and it's only in the most contemporary armour, approximately late 1400's through 1600's, that the illustrations are most reliable. Before that point, it can be downright abysmal, as oftentimes it portrays armour from the wrong period; for example, suits of obviously 16th-century armour are depicted upon pages captioned "14th Century". I would not rely upon this as an factual source at all, and only use it as a source of clip-art or artistic inspiration. As I said, the pictures are pretty, but that's about it...