Hello all! I'm an undergraduate student with a strong lifelong interest in the medieval time period and military history. After taking a course on warfare throughout history at my university and reading several excerpts from "The Art of War in World History: From Antiquity to the Nuclear Age" by Gérard Chaliand during the course, I have become very keen on finding more works like those found within the book (that is either contemporary, or written shortly after the events described).
In particular, I am interested in those that detail medieval battles or medieval warfare in general. While my main focus is on Medieval Europe, I would be eager to read anything that anyone has to offer. The Middle East and medieval Japan are also regions that I have strong interest in.
I would love to know about other anthologies similar to "The Art of War in World History" that fit this description (at least to some degree) or standalone texts. I'm not particular. Anything that anyone may have to offer is greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
Edit: /u/TheApiary has informed me that the resources I am looking for would be described as "contemporaneous," not "contemporary." I was not aware of the distinction but I appreciate it being pointed out and hope that this makes what I'm looking for more clear.
I can recommend five: The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel (specifically the 1327 Scottish expedition, although the rest of the work contains some insight into the smaller actions surrounding larger wars), The Life of Saint Louis, On the Conquest of Constantinople, The History of William Marshal and The Scalacronia. Also useful is the 13th century German romace Parzival, whose author was a ministerialis, Itinerary of the Pilgrimage and Deeds of King Richard, The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations and The Battle of Hastings: Sources and Interpretations.
I would also recommend reading at least the first chapter in Bernard and David Bachrach's Warfare in Medieval Europe c. 400-c.1453, which provides a handy guide on how to interpret the evidence. For medieval strategic and tactical thinking, Christine de Pizan's The Book of the Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry is a good example of a medieval update of Vegetius' De Re Militari.
One tip for this question: historians generally use "contemporaneous" to mean "at the same time as the thing we're talking," and "contemporary" to mean "now." So when I clicked on this I thought you were asking for recent historical writing on medieval warfare.
Now, to actually answer your question. Have you read Beowulf? It's not historically accurate, of course, but it does give a picture of how they thought about war and flighting. A little more historical things to read are Einhard's Life of Charlemagne and Joinville's Life of St Louis. They're both kind of biographies, but of people who did a lot of fighting, and they're readable and fun.
Try Sverris saga about the late 12th century Norwegian king Sverri Sigurdsson, with plenty of descriptions of the civil wars that were raging at the time. As a bonus you get the typical saga wit and some really excellent battle speeches.