Defending Your Castle: Build Catapults, Crossbows, Moats, Bulletproof Shields, and More Defensive Devices to Fend Off the Invading Hordes PDF
Preview Defending Your Castle: Build Catapults, Crossbows, Moats, Bulletproof Shields, and More Defensive Devices to Fend Off the Invading Hordes
DEFENDING YOUR CASTLE Build Catapults, Crossbows, Moats, Bulletproof Shields, and More Defensive Devices to Fend Off the Invading Hordes WILLIAM GURSTELLE An A Cappella Book i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 1 3/27/14 4:44 PM Copyright © 2014 by William Gurstelle All rights reserved Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 ISBN 978-1-61374-682-0 The author and the publisher of this book disclaim all liability incurred in connection with the use of the information contained in this book. Questions? Comments? Visit www.DefendingYourCastle.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gurstelle, William. Defending your castle : build catapults, crossbows, moats, bulletproof shields, and more defensive devices / William Gurstelle. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61374-682-0 (trade paper) 1. Catapult—Design and construction. 2. Crossbows—Design and construction. 3. Fortification—Design and construction. 4. Siege warfare. I. Title. II. Title: Build catapults, crossbows, moats, bulletproof shields, and more defensive devices. U873.G87 2014 623.4'41—dc23 2013046712 Cover design and art: Damien Scogin Interior design: Scott Rattray Interior illustrations: Damien Scogin Printed in the United States of America 5 4 3 2 1 i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 2 3/20/14 11:51 AM My father, Harold, my brother, Steven, and my father-in-law, Milton, were in the US armed forces and served during World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War, respectively. This book is dedicated to them and to all the veterans who have defended our castles. i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 3 3/20/14 11:51 AM Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules! i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 4 3/20/14 11:51 AM Contents Acknowledgments vii 1 A Cast of Bad Actors 1 General Safety Guidelines 11 2 Genghis Khan and the Mongols 13 Hudun Pao: The Crouching Tiger Catapult 20 Carpini’s Crossbow 29 Mongol Smoke Monster 39 3 Attila and the Huns 43 The Palisade Wall 48 The Hidden Book Safe 56 4 Alexander the Great and the Greeks 63 Alexander’s Tortoise 71 The High-Tech Backpack Shield 80 5 Tamerlane and the Tatars 87 The Tatar-Proofed Castle Door 93 Da Vinci’s Catapult 105 6 Peter the Hermit and His Crusaders 121 Crusader-Proof Moat 126 7 Ragnar Lodbrok and the Vikings 131 The Cheval-de-frise 139 The Hourglass Watchtower 144 8 Conclusion 159 Notes 162 Selected Bibliography 164 Index 165 i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 5 3/27/14 3:22 PM i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 6 3/20/14 11:51 AM aCknoWledGments Iw ould like to express my gratitude to the people who saw me through this book; to all those who provided support, provided me a platform for talking things over, provided information and background, and offered comments, inspiration, and ideas. In partic- ular, I thank my wonderful wife, Karen Hansen Gurstelle: creative, clearheaded, and thorough. This book could not have been written without her. vii i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 7 3/20/14 11:51 AM i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 8 3/20/14 11:51 AM 1 a Cast of Bad aCtors How far would you go to protect yourself, your family, and your stuff? Most likely, your answer is something along the lines of “well, as far as I have to.” It’s always been this way, since the first Neanderthal cave dweller barred access to his abode by pushing a large rock in front of the entrance. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who have stuff and those who want to take other people’s stuff. This book describes methods, machines, and mechanisms for defending your home—your castle—from all sorts of bad actors: city sackers, pillaging pirates, bad guys, trespassers, brigands, hajduks, thuggees, dacoits, and every other organized, semi-organized, or anar- chic band of evildoers seeking to bring mayhem and destruction to peaceful, law-abiding people like you. After reading this book’s title, you could be thinking that the projects and advice contained in this book are perhaps eight centuries out of date. Well, maybe they are. Certainly, the world is at least a 1 i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 1 3/20/14 11:51 AM
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