A Manual Of Siegecraft And Fortification

Engelsk oversættelse 1968 ved G.A. Rothrock af Vaubans i 1669 på Krigsminister Louvois opfordring skrevne værk "Mémoire sur la Conduite des Sièges" som første gang tryktes i Leiden 1740 under titlen "Mémoire pour servir d'Instruction dans la Conduite des Siéges et dans la Défense des Places"--Se yderligere under denne udgave.

This book, originally published in 1969, discusses the development of the complex relationships between science and technology and warfare from the Renaissance to the 1960s. The nature of warfare has always been largely determined by contemporary technology. Instances of technological change undertaken for the sake of military advantage have also been relatively common in history. The relationships between science and warfare however have been much more variable and ambiguous. "Science, Technology, and Warfare" requires a fourth term to be complete "Management " because the primary military innovator never has been the scientist, technologist, or soldier, but rather the administrative "organizer of victory."

As centers for defense and bases for attack since ancient times, fortifications are a crucial aspect of military history. Indeed, as Jeremy Black shows, the history of fortifications is a global history of humanity itself. Moreover, their remains offer a still potent, often dramatic testimony to the past, notably through the strength of the sites, the power of the works, and the vast resources they required. This compelling book explores not only the history of fortifications themselves, but also the real and potential threat to them posed by siegecraft. Tracing the interaction of attack and defense over time, Black situates the evolution of fortifications within the wider development of governments, societies, and cultures. Moreover, his examination of the future of these installations, as well as of potential methods of destroying them, only reaffirms their omnipresence in human history—and their continued importance. Fortifications are not simply relics of the past, but rather elements fundamental to military and social interaction across the world today.

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 outthought before it can be outfought. This book outlines some of the more successfully thought out sieges, and demonstrates why it is that no fortress is impregnable. 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. We must stay ahead of the pendulum, and not be out-thought long before we are out-fought, for, as it will be shown in this book, "no fortress is impregnable."