Product Description

A lavishly illustrated and informative look at the history and architecture of castles and forts in the Middle Ages. The great walled castles of the medieval world continue to fascinate the modern world. Today, the remains of medieval forts and walls throughout Europe are popular tourist sites. Unlike many other books on castles, The Medieval Fortress is unique in its comprehensive treatment of these architectural wonders from a military perspective. The Medieval Fortress includes an analysis of the origins and evolution of castles and other walled defenses, a detailed description of their major components, and the reasons for their eventual decline. The authors, acclaimed fortification experts J. E. and H. W. Kaufmann, explain how the military strategies and weapons used in the Middle Ages led to many modifications of these structures. All of the representative types of castles and fortifications are discussed, from the British Isles, Ireland, France, Germany, Moorish Spain, Italy, as far east as Poland and Russia, as well as Muslim and Crusader castles in the Middle East. Over 200 photographs and 300 extraordinarily detailed technical drawings, plans, and sketches by Robert M. Jurga accompany and enrich the main text.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #191999 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
J. E. Kaufmann and H. W. Kaufmann are acknowledged experts in the field of fortifications and have written extensively in the field. They are the authors of Fortress Third Reich and Fortress Europe. Robert M. Jurga is a renowned Polish illustrator who has contributed artwork for numerous books and magazines.

Customer Reviews

Great book about forts
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!

Excellent book, fantastic value.
I have to admit to being a little reticent, many books about Castles end up being aimed at the younger market and lack any real depth. This is spot on. Very well researched, it manages to be factual enough to make me want to read it and come back to it, while not being so heavy that you feel you are reading a research paper.

My only criticisms are minor: may of the diagrams are labeled with many numbers and the keys that accompany the diagrams do not have all the labels defined, this does not detract from core information - but I found it very frustrating to see a diagram with 20 labels and only 5 of them defined. The photographs are often quite dark and a little tired - I was surprised to see that it was published so recently - the photos look like they have come out of a 1960 academic book.

But these are very small issues that should not detract from a very good book.

Almost the best
This is the most interesting book I have read on this subject. It begins with lots of nice drawings on castle features, variations of type, and also some very good illustrations of siege operations. The rest of the book, in fact most of the book, is a huge collection of castle plans and in depth analysis of each castles history and defensive qualities.

I am sad that this book could not have gone further to illustrate many architectural construction features. For instance, there is nothing about stair or roof construction, or for that matter, a simple Norman motte and bailey.

A book for the serious medieval historian and model maker, but could have gone a lot further with many more diagrams. Is it worth the money? YES!