Synopsis
This comprehensive and highly illustrated, in colour and black and white, history of siege warfare and siege weapons, also contains a how-to guide for re-creating medieval siege weapons. Before the days of tanks and machine guns, there were scaling ladders, battering rams, siege towers, throwing machines, bores and daggers and weapons such as these symbolize power, protection, control and defiance. This book allows readers actually to re-create their own Medieval weapons with clear step-by-step instructions. Military history buffs can find siege weapons of Ancient Egypt, Judea, Assyria, Persia, Greece and Rome as well as those of the Gauls and Tueton, the Byzantine Empire, the Muslim World and Medieval Europe, all described in incredible detail accompanied by illustrations and photographs. The author offers new ways to reconstruct various siege weapons that are based on his analyses of the works of ancient and medieval authors including Vitruvius, Vegetius, Apollodorus, Athenaeus, Heron, Biton, Philon and many others. With chapters covering the history of siege warfare, siege weapons, different strategems and methods of attack and defence, readers will not only walk away with ideas of how to re-create siege weapons, they will also take with them a better understanding of history from ancient times through the end of the fifteenth century AD.
From the Back Cover
There is something alluring about ancient methods of warfare that have been made obsolete by this modern era of computers and machines. Before the days of tanks and machine guns, there were scaling ladders, battering rams, siege towers, throwing machines, bores, and catapults. Weapons such as these symbolize power, protection, control, and defiance.
In the centuries when siege warfare was employed, dominance by any group over a certain area was dependent upon their control over the land. To completely subdue an occupied territory one had to seize every fortress and castle in it. During the medieval period significant advancements were made in siege warfare, weapons, tactics, and stratagems.
In Ancient and Medieval Siege Weapons, author Konstantin Nossov covers the development of all types of weapons that were used in this time period. The tables, charts, and illustrations throughout the book aid the reader in understanding how these weapons were constructed, how they were used, and how they were adjusted to better fit the needs of the warriors.
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