Siegecraft II - No Fortress Impregnable

(2021)

Data current to 20 Feb 2021.

It has been said that the taking of a fortress depends primarily on the making of a good plan to take it, and the proper implementation and application of the resources to make the plan work. Long before a fortress has been besieged and conquered, it has to have been out thought before it can be outfought.

A siege can be described as an assault on an opposing force attempting to defend itself from behind a position of some strength. Whenever the pendulum of technology swings against the "status quo," the defenders of a fortification have usually been compelled to surrender.

This book contains examples of sieges, both successful and unsuccessful, demonstrating that no matter how securely a fortress or defensive position is constructed and defended, eventually a good plan and a determined besieger can overcome it.  One way or another, time, willpower and determined effort will be brought together in sufficient quantity and quality to bring a siege or a defence to a successful conclusion.  It will be argued through the examples presented in this book that ultimately, “no fortress is impregnable.”

You can order this book on line here:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/siegecraft-harold-a-skaarup/ebook/9781637957325.html

Illustration of a Medieval trebuchet in action during the First Crusade (1095–1099).  The illustration is from a book made for King Louis IX (or Saint Louis) of France in 1250.  (Pierpont Morgan Library, New-York)

Trebuchet illustration.