With full-color pages accessible to readers of any age, this how and why quick-start guide explains knighthood and nobility and royalty, what coats of arms mean, how to create your own, and how to assemble those of your ancestors. Heraldry is the art and profession of creating designs within shield-shaped outlines meant to identify important individuals and their descendants, as well as organizations (towns, schools, corporations) and nations. These designs often come surrounded by additional symbols such as helms, crowns or crests. Although few of us bear actual shields in the modern world, many today print their ancestors' armorial symbols onto paper, engrave them into jewelry or tableware, and carve them into wood and stone. Readers will learn about:
- Symbols of Identity - where Heraldry came from, and how it can still empower people today
- Within the Shield - the symbols which identify a person or family or organization
- Beyond the Shield - the symbols which identify social rank (gentry, knight, noble, royal)
- Ancestry - where last names came from, and where you come into the story
"Coats of Arms is a thorough and comprehensive guide for anyone fascinated by heraldry. You'll learn how to differentiate a duke from a marquis, a firstborn son from a second, and the meaning behind every symbol on a shield. A treasure to refer to time and time again. I know I'll be referring back to it when I get back to genealogy and looking at my own medieval ancestors' coats of arms." --Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of King Arthur's Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition
"Coats of Arms was a fun, fascinating read full of information, yet broken down into easy-to-read sections so that the flow did not feel bogged down at all or like I was being bombarded with too much new information at once. Interactive history is one of the best ways to interest audiences of all ages and demographics into learning more about our collective past. It would be a fantastic addition to social studies curriculums in middle schools and high schools. Having a resource like Fountain's text to assist me would have made the project even more fun (and, I am sure my final design would have turned out a lot better than it actually did)! It can also be enjoyed as a recreational read by adults, as well." -- Megan Weiss, Reader Views "
History can be boring beyond belief if it is a mere list of names and dates. Or it can be immensely fascinating. Coats Of Arms: An Introduction to the Science and Art of Heraldry will bring past times and even present customs to life through the study of symbols of many kinds, many though not all relating to badges of nobility. Any student of history, and of cultural differences, will benefit from looking at the many beautiful illustrations, all of which are keys for entry into ways of thinking and living. It is a good day when I learn something new, so I really enjoyed editing this book for the publisher." --Bob Rich, PhD and author of Sleeper, Awake!
"One of the most difficult requirements for teachers of history and English is to find ways to assess students with special needs. Coats of Arms offers a uniquely creative means to enhance the study of Medieval Times; most students, with or without disability, will enjoy learning patterns, colors and shapes that relate to their personal history. Creating one's own coat of arms using methods centuries old will help students relate to the past while tying together strands of history still used in the present. A secondary bonus is the intriguing vocabulary presented in this book, with new meanings for 'hatching' and 'field' as examples." --Carolyn Bouldin, reading comprehension specialist and teacher of secondary English
Learn more at https: //coatsofarms.actionablehope.com
From Modern History Press
Marc Fountain has been a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (scbwi.org) since 2016, and a member of the organization for crime writers SistersInCrime.org since 2015, during which time he served for two years as co-President of SinC's North Carolina Triad chapter. A career technical writer nearing 5000 pages of printed and online documentation across dozens of industries, he is also a full-stack programmer with an MBA who begins each contract interview by asking the interviewer what the business objective is.So why did he write an introductory book about heraldry? "Not quite half a century ago, at age 11, I found a book in my grandfather's library about coats of arms. I was enchanted, but trying to learn from its dense text and colorless line art felt like trying to swim through peanut butter. That book had been written for scholarly researchers the age of my grandfather at the time (my age now). Day jobs and other obligations had to come first, but I've finally gotten round to creating the book I wish had been there all those years ago. If you today are the age I was then, you probably won't notice this paragraph for decades to come. But that was my hope: that different parts of this book would be useful to you at different ages."
