Archery Books

As a new entrant to the sport, I found the book to give a comprehensive overview of several aspects of the sport, though it tends to focus more on hunting as opposed to target. It discusses available equipment, (bows, arrows, accessories) as well as some instructions on how to make your own. I'm not ready to cut down a tree and make a bow, but the articles did give me some insight.

It was very helpful for me.

This is a great book for crossbow hunters. I also highly recommend The Crossbow by Ralph Payne-Gallwey, which is a complete history of the weapon.

This is one of the better books on the topic. I also highly recommend The Crossbow by Ralph Payne-Gallwey.

This book is a good book for anyone interested in traditional bow building.

Alot of good info in this book. It covers every aspect of hunting the rut and is relevent to gun or bow. I have 60+ books on whitetail hunting this is one I would recomend.

Bernd Klinger has provided a great book for the beginner with numerous photographs to aid competitors in their pursuit. Equipment is covered in great detail along with clothing, sights, and a complete breakdown on all the positions. The photographs are detailed to show specifically what not to do and what we should all be working toward as a solid position. This book will not go into depth on the mental aspect and serious training issues dealing with competition. That is destined for a second book. This book will provide enough thought to review and diagnose a variety of situations with positions, equipment, trigger control, and breathing.

If you like paying for advertising this is a must have.

Even the table of contents was worthless since it only listed "Chapter 1; Chapter 2" and so on; never mind what the chapter is about. The front half has a few good tidbits but the back is a lot of "I owe it to the gun manufacturer to say good things" advertising reviews.

Very detailed view of the modern 1911 handgun. A great read for any new or experienced 1911 owner.

IU am doing an upgrade project on a Colt Series 80 1911 .38 Super and this book is a very good reference on what to do to get the best results, along with lots of other useful info on the 1911 and its clones.

This is a very interesting book about the workings of the 1911 and I learned a lot from it. It would have been even better if the pictures were in color, but I guess it would cost a lot more....
I also think that the book should have more information about the trigger/sear/safety and the adjustment/replacement of those parts...

These reviews are MERGED reviews of two different volumes of a book. I believe people are purchasing Volume 2 and expecting the content of Volume 1. There is minimal overlap between Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Volume 1 (ISBN 0873492811, 334 pages, 2001) has information on the history, calibers, disassembly, cleaning, competion, reloading, and testing. At the end of the book is a series of reviews of various 1911 models.

Volume 2 (ISBN 0896892697, 336 pages, 2006) has information on barrels, mud tests, penetration, longevity, tactical illumination, holsters, defense, and competion. As with Volume 1, a series of 1911 reviews are at the end. These are different from Volume 1.

Volume 2 is not meant to replace Volume 1. In fact, in Volume 2, the author writes, "this book is not designed to replace Volume 1..."

I wrote Amazon.com an email indicating that this reviews are mixed up between Volumes 1 and 2.

Both volumes are the best collection of information about the Model of 1911 in book form out there. However, they are two different volumes. I recommend starting with Volume 1 (search by the ISBN above) and if you crave more 1911 information, purchase Volume 2.

As a beginner to Archery I found this book very interesting in the my pursuit to learn about Archery. The skills required were very well layed out and very desciptive and easy to follow.
Les

This book is excellent and it has great teachings about archery. The author of the book dominates the subject very well. This book is indicated for the lovers of the sport and beginners as well.
All the Best.
Francis -Brasil

This book is geared for beginners, but is really lacking. Line drawings are no substitute for decent pictures. Many of the explanations are so basic that they don't really give you any information at all. There is nothing in this book that can't be found somewhere else, such as the internet for free. I believe that anyone starting in archery would be much happier with some of the other books available.

I agree with another post that this book is primarily written for a summer camp counselor who is in charge of the archery course! I was probably dissapointed because I read this after reading the revised edition of Dr. Kidwell's book Instinctive Archery Insights. That book enlightened me, and helped my shooting, in ways I could never have imagined! This book, Archery: Steps to Success is pretty basic. If that is what you are looking for I guess it's OK.

Archery Steps to Success
by Kathleen M. Haywood & Catherine F. Lewis
If you target shoot, then you do need this book to improve. It is "The Dummies Guide to better archery". All clubs should have a copy for all bow types; it is simply a training book, which takes you step by step through what are painfully obvious tuning and practice sessions. This is your own personal tutor book, which is full of hints and explanations on style and equipment.

because i did not like this waste of paper one bit!

I have just recently started archery as a hobby, and have found this book to be very helpful. The book covers all of the basics, and lists a variety of different options for styles and equipment. By covering all areas, it gives you a good idea of what is out there and makes you more familiar with the wide world of Archery. Also, the author ties in many of his own personal experiences, which makes it a little more upbeat in comparison to some other drier books. It's only weakness is lack of depth in certain areas. This lack of depth makes it an excellent starting point for the novice archer, yet not much help in any higher levels.

The book looks promising but alas, fails like an arrow with wet fletchings, and only 1 star rating because I can't have none.

My wife bought me this shortly BEFORE I bought my bow. I suppose she got sick of hearing me talk about getting into archery and felt this would help appease me (or even change my mind). She was right. I ended up with my face buried in this book for weeks, and then even more after I bought my bow and began shooting.

It covers a lot of ground for the beginner. Detailed explanations of terminology, the history of bow types, techniques, and even sources for equipment can be found here. There are a multitude of photos to accompany the chapters, which help to illustrate the topics of discussion (unlike those found in some other archery books, which have nothing to do with anything being discussed).

So, if you're new to archery or are switching from a compound to instictive shooting, this one comes highly recommended.

This book is excellent for instructing one in fine-tuning a traditional bow (recurve or long), and matching arrows to such a bow... among many other things.

Basic Essentials Archery is exactly that - the basic essentials. If you've been shooting for 6 months or more, stop reading now. You already know everything in this book. If you are considering archery for the first time, read on.

Construction: this 64-page book includes table of contents, index, and glossary. The chapters are laid out in a logical progression. Editing is good overall, though some simple grammatical errors (including several occurrences of unnecessary hyphens) were missed.

Style: Beth and Stephanie write in a conversational style that is easy to read and lends itself to understanding with minimal effort. Ideas are presented in a logical, organized fashion, and I never had to reread a sentence to understand the point.

The authors do not always seem to take their audience seriously, as they frequently point out the obvious:

"... once you have mastered the basics of archery, you can even shoot by yourself." (p. 49)

Content: Few pages, largish type, and frequent illustrations make BEA a very quick read. I am slow reader, and I finished it in 2 sittings.

The book opens with a brief historical intro, providing some simple illustrations of archery's impact on history. While the history lesson is vaguely interesting from an academic standpoint, it is irrelevant to any audience looking for elementary archery information for competition or hunting. Even if you want the history lesson, chapter one is shallow enough that it probably contains nothing you don't know already. I suggest skipping this chapter.

Chapter two is a more logical introduction, as it presents the three common bow types (long, recurve, compound), and illustrates their components. This is a good source of terminology, but nothing you can't get for free on the Internet (or just pick up by talking with other archers).

The authors offer the dubious suggestion that you can buy enough equipment to get you started for $100. This may be enough to pick up a used bow on eBay, but even then you don't have a string, arrows, a target, armguard, or finger tab.

If you want to learn about archery equipment, consider the excellent Hunter's Friend Bow Selection Guide (http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm). This will give you more information and a much better understanding than the material presented in BEA chapter 2.

Chapter three briefly glosses over how to store and clean your equipment.

Chapter four is an introduction to archery safety. This is one of the better chapters in the book, and provides a good grounding in what not to do. Unfortunately, it offers a few dubious pieces of advice:

"Cracked bow arms: If a crack doesn't get fixed, the bow could break under the tension of your draw and cause an injury." (p. 26)

This statement implies that a cracked limb can be repaired. The only safe remedy for a cracked limb is replacement. There is no way to make the limb as strong as it was before the crack.

"Get someone else to stand in front of the target or prop a bow or quiver on it so no one will try to shoot at that target as you look for arrows that you've overshot." (p. 31)

I won't explain why it's a bad idea to stand in front of an archery target. I can only wonder why the authors would suggest something so obviously unsafe.

Some suggestions are provided without explanatory details:

"Make sure that the bowstring (or bow cables for a compound bow) is positioned properly." (p. 27)

No details are offered to explain proper string position, or how to achieve it.

Chapter three ends with a brief summary of strength and flexibility training. This would have been a really useful section, but the authors assume you are already familiar with strength training terminology. Unfortunately, exercises are presented with no explanatory detail:

"To develop the muscles in your shoulders, try lateral raises as well as bent-over dumbbell flies." (p. 33)

No attempt is made to explain this exercise or how to perform it.

Chapter five is actually a pretty useful reference. It explains the T-form shooting posture, explains three different shooting stances (open, closed, and regular), wrist angle, and finger placement. This chapter includes a simple step-by-step shooting method, and some basic troubleshooting suggestions. These are all useful details that I have had surprisingly little luck finding on the Internet.

The book's final chapter provides a rudimentary explanation of several types of competition. By the time you are thinking about competition, you will have left this book far behind, and that's just where I intend to put mine.

-sean henning

Children and adults who are new to the sport of archery will find this book extremely helpful. This brand new, reader-friendly paperback by Habeishi and Mallory includes a variety of information -- from a brief history of archery to the tools you need to get started in the sport, practice safely and effectively, and properly use, care for and store archery equipment. I highly recommend this read to anyone who has never picked up a bow and arrow or to those who haven't attempted a shot since 7th grade physical education.

This book is excellent for someone who is just starting the hobby of archery and who has not yet learned ANYTHING about different types of bows, arrows, and shooting stances. The authors have done a very good job of making the fundamental concepts of archery easy to understand for someone who has never dealt with them. For anyone else involved in the hobby, this book is very basic and is probably below your level of skill.