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The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages
 
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The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages [Hardcover]

J. E. Kaufmann (Author), H. W. Kaufmann (Author), Robert M. Jurga (Illustrator)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Book Description

The castles of the Medieval world continue to interest readers, both as architectural wonders and because of their dramatic role in world history. The general public is largely unaware of just how many castles survive today or over how wide an area of Europe and the Middle East they are to be found.

Fortifications specialists J.E. and H.W. Kaufmann and technical artist Robert Jurga (authors of the acclaimed Fortress Europe: European Fortifications of World War II) have once again combined European sources and personal observations to present a unique portrait of military architecture. They reveal how the medieval fortress combined both Roman and barbarian features, with some influences from as far away as China. Detailed coverage is given to castles in the British Isles, France, Germany, Moorish Spain, and as far east as Poland and Russia, as well as Muslim and Crusader castles in the Middle East.

The Medieval Fortress covers the origin and evolution of the castles and other walled defenses, their major components, and the reasons for their eventual decline, which was not solely due to the introduction of gunpowder. Also receiving extensive coverage are the weapons and equipment of garrisons and besieging troops. Over 100 photographs and 400 extraordinarily detailed technical drawings accompany the main text, which also takes an in-depth look at representative castles of each major type.

From the Publisher

J.E. Kaufmann and H.W. Kaufmann (San Antonio, TX) are acknowledged experts in the field of fortifications and have written extensively in the field. Robert M. Jurga is a well-renowned Polish illustrator who has contributed art work for numerous books and magazines.
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6 Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great study of medieval castles, Jun 1 2004
By 
Samuel K. Rohlfs "MVHShogun" (Mountain View, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages (Hardcover)
If you've been looking for a complete book on medieval castles, you have found the book for you. Although it touches lightly on such on such areas as medieval food, hygene, and battles, the bulk of this book is an in-depth study of castles. The writing is a bit dry, but very informative, covering fortresses from England, France, Itally, and even eastern Europe. I doubt there is much about castles unsaid in this book.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Medieval Fortress by Kaufmann, Sep 29 2003
By 
Dr. Joseph S. Maresca "Dr. Joseph S. Maresca ... (Bronxville, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages (Hardcover)
This is an excellent work. It would be perfect for a student
project with a focus on Middle Ages building designs. The author
provides detailed engineering specifications for castles, forts,
a motte and rising towers. The engineering statics implications
are explained in the detailed design process. The work covers
action implementalities; such as, the ram, siege and cannon.
The author spends a portion of the book explaining how
war objects were constructed during the Middle Age period.

In addition, he concludes that an increase in wall size
necessarily means weakening the overall superstructure.
Some time is spent explaining the model diet for the period
which consisted of wheat, barley, oats and fish. This work
will help readers understand the building requirements
for structures created during the Middle Ages. The book would
be valuable for historians, art buffs, architects, engineers
and a wide constituency of other readers.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Just get it - you will not regret!, Mar 25 2002
By 
baboonsbookreview (Højbjerg, Denmark) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages (Hardcover)
It does not matter if you all ready are a "fort-geek" or some one, who just want a book on the topic: This book will for sure please you.

"The Medieval Fortress" is a nice big (app. 11" x 8.5" or 28,5 x 22 cm), 319p. book, which covers the development of fortified places through out Europe and North-Africa from the early to the late middle ages - when the forts had their glory.
The book is built up of five main chapters. The First deals with the elements of a fortification; the Second deals in general with the different kind of fortifications in different parts of Europe (Islamic, Byzantine, Frankish, British, Norse, Slavic and Magyar (Hungarian)); the Third does the same, but with emphasis on the emerging castle; the Fourth chapter introduces gunpowder and the decline of the high castle walls through the description of several sieges (Constantinople, Rhodes, and siege of fortifications during the Reconquista); Chapter Five goes in depth with some selected fortifications in Europe: Some of the more famous ones and some more obscure. The reader is guided through fortifications/castles in Great Britain, Ireland, France, Low Countries, Switzerland, Holy Roman Empire, Scandinavia, Central Europe (present day Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, and Slovenia) Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Eastern Mediterranean, Italy, Spain&Portugal, and North Africa. The appendixes gives the names of some more important builders and architects and their titles in different languages (French, Portugese, Spanish, Duch, Sweedish, and Russian), a chronology of important sieges from 623 (Constantinople) to 1529 (Vienna), a history of medival artillery and a glossary.
There are endless amounts of B/W pictures alongside with even more B/W line drawings and plans of forts, just like on the front cover of the book.

This book is a very good buy!

(Review based on First DaCapo Edition, 2001)

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