Decaying animals catapulted over battlements, flaming arrows raining
from the sky and red-hot sand poured down ladders to repel advancing
bloodthirsty hordes. Castle warfare was a grim and grisly business, and
every aspect of it is brought to life in this book. Through colorful
illustrations and accounts of actual sieges in every chapter, you'll
discover how armies from medieval times up to the English Civil War
attacked and besieged British castles and how changing weaponry shaped
the defenses we see the remains of today. As castle design developed,
attackers had to change their tactics and introduce new siege methods to
bring the walls down. The weapons, siege engines and mining techniques
used are described in detail here, alongside diagrams showing how they
worked and details of the defensive structures erected to counter them.