Infantry in the Middle Ages heavy toll on the English invaders of their lands. Adapted by the English, the longbow was nevertheless a difficult weapon to master, requiring long years of use and practice. Even bow construction was extended, sometimes taking as much as four years for seasoned staves to be prepared and shaped for final deployment. A skilled longbowman could shoot 12 arrows a minute, a rate of fire superior to competing weapons like the crossbow or early gunpowder weapons. The nearest competitor to the longbow was the much more expensive crossbow or Arbalest, used often by urban militias and mercenary forces. It required
Our Word Is Our Weapon Our Word Is Our Weapon Our Word is Our Weapon () is a collection of writings by Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Marcos has become somewhat of an icon, a poetic representative of a much larger struggle. Much of the book contains political essays, as well as stories and commentary in the style of magical realism, with conversations between Marcos and a beetle named Durito. The book was published by Seven Stories Press in 2002. "Somewhere between the passionate analysis of Ricardo Flores Magón, and the poetic fury of Eduardo Galeano, lie these most powerful and