Greetings, Lords and Ladies-that’s right, I don’t believe chivalry is dead. I even tried out for the SCA( that’s the Society for the Creative Anachronism, not the society for chaos and anarchy as I thought). I was doing great. I was smashing my foe with great vim and vigor. He moved so slow with all that heavy armor and huge shield. It’s quite refreshing and a great workout, and much cheaper than therapy. But the weapon master chided me for not being chivalric. It seems I kept turning my opponent to the morning sun, blinding him. No wonder he kept retreating and shouting for quarters.
Nevertheless, I yearn for the days of “Might makes right” also known as “God is on my side.” and this army brandishing spears, axes, swords and equipped with siege weapons says so. There’s something alluring about ancient methods of warfare that have been made defunct by the modern era of computers and information technology. Before tanks, before machine guns, before IED’s there were battering rams, siege towers, and catapults.
In “Ancient and Medieval Siege Weapons”, author Konstantin Nossov covers the history and development of ancient weapons of mass destruction. This is a skillfully illustrated book on the siege weapons used by most of the major armies from Ancient Egypt through the mid 1400's. It is surprisingly detailed. The book is divided into three distinct parts.
The book begins with “The History of Siege Warfare” tracing the main stages of evolution of siege warfare as well as some brief descriptions of individual sieges. The book then goes into detail on individual siege engines, describing structure and methods of using them with beautiful illustrations of reconstructions of these tools of war. Some of the reconstructions were taken from stone tablets. Now that’s dedication.
Nossov then devotes the third part of the book to informing the reader about the typical actions taken by both those throwing the party and the guests, or maybe the party crashers-typical actions of the offense and main steps of the defense along with stratagems to avoid expensive siege warfare, because every war has to have a budget.
The history of siege warfare is closely connected with the history of castles and fortifications, because if you build it, they will come and try to figure how to knock it down. To completely subdue an occupied territory, a commander had to seize every fortress and castle in it. William of Normandy easily managed to occupy the whole of England due to country’s lack of a developed system of castles.
The author knows his steel and stone. He holds a PhD and is an advisor on arms, armor, and ancient warfare. He has penned other books on the siege weapons of medieval Russia, India and the Far East along with several on Russian and Indian fortresses. The book was originally published in Russian, but is good translation with easy-to-read passages by a informed and scholarly man that knows how to be concise. So, I’m going to siege the day and visit my local hardware store. I wonder if I’m going to need a building permit for a catapult???
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