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Loading... The Attac And Defence Of Fortified Places (edition 2004)by John Muller, David Manthey
Work InformationThe Attac And Defence Of Fortified Places by John Muller
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The Attac and Defence of Fortified Places was the definitive guide for conducting and withstanding sieges in the 18th century, strongly influencing both field generals and city governors. Originally in print from 1747 to 1791, this book covers the strategies used in conflicts such as the War of Austrian Succession, the Seven Years War, and the American Revolution. John Muller's work draws heavily on Vauban's solid foundation of the 17th century, expanding and updating it to include 18th century innovations and tactics.In the 18th century, warfare was dominated by fortifications. Many wars and battles were focused on besieging cities and forts, or on attempting to raise or prevent a siege. Although armies often met on the battlefield, their tactics and strategies were greatly influenced by the nearby strongholds. An understanding of siege warfare is crucial to following the course of a war and to comprehending the related history.Notes by David Manthey include a short biography of John Muller, an explanation of 18th century gunpowder and maps, and a modern description of the computations used for mines. Also included are corrections to and observations on the text. A complete lexicon of terms clarifies the text and provides additional details. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)133Philosophy and Psychology Parapsychology And Occultism Specific TopicsLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.5)
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Wikipedia in English
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The editors, or should I say the re-printers, faithfully reproduced the book's original format. I had to re-wire my brain a bit in order to smoothly turn those little symbols that look like "f"s into actual "s"s. Example: A fentence in thif book lookf like thif. And keep dictionary.com on hand to handle the occasional 18th century word that does not pop up into 21st lexicon very often. Aside from these issues (and I'm not even sure they are issues, but rather reader conditioning) I admire the effort and apparent success in faithfully recreating the text in it's original form.
The book reads as sort of psuedo-procedure manual and a treatise written by an expert who takes time to correct or reinforce his contemporaries' works on the subject. He provides some examples of this approach or that, and whether or not they are practical or successful. Having poured over many military field manuals during my Army career I could easily follow his narrative and form the picture that he was trying to create in my mind. This I believe to be the instructive author's ultimate goal. Some of advice to the reader though. Take a bit of time and examine the plates in the back of the book of the different styles and components of a fortification before diving into the text. Refer back to them often as this will give you a better understanding of what he is explaining.
Mr. Muller was obviously a leading expert of his day on this particular subject and his book is interesting to say the least. There are some dry and abstract parts (math, too much math for a historian) but overall deserving of 4 stars out of 5. (