The medieval period was one of the most inventive in military history when it came to non-gunpowder machine development. During this period, the pre-existing military-technological traditions from the ancient worlds were brought together. Three civilisations; Graeco-Roman World, Persia, India, and China, were primarily responsible for this evolution - the Late-Roman or Byzantine Empire, the Islamic World, and latterly the Mongol 'World Empire'. This book examines the resulting stone throwing machines that used assorted power sources from torsion 'energy storage' systems, to manpowered and counterbalance sling devices, rockets et al. Text by David Nicolle with illustrations by Sam Thompson.

Contents

• Background
• Stone Throwing Machines
• Giant and Multiple Crossbows
• Mining and Boring Devices
• Towers and 'Man-Elevating' Devices
• Moveable Defensive Systems
• Fire Weapons
• Noxious Weapons
• Naval Warfare
• The Frontiers of Possibility - Experimentation in Medieval Military Technology

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