Forts: An illustrated history of building for defence

Forts: An illustrated history of building for defence

by Jeremy Black (Author), The National Archives (Author)

Synopsis

Ever since humans began to live together in settlements they have felt the need to organise some kind of defence against potentially hostile neighbours. Many of the earliest city states were built as walled towns, and during the medieval era, stone castles were built both as symbols of the defenders' strength and as protection against potential attack. The advent of cannon prompted fortifications to become lower, denser and more complex, and the forts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries could appear like snowflakes in their complexity and beautiful geometry. Without forts, the history of America could have taken a very different course, pirates could have sailed the seas unchecked, and Britain itself could have been successfully invaded. This book explains the history of human fortifications, and is beautifully illustrated using photographs, plans, drawings and maps to explain why they were built, their various functions and their immense historical legacy in laying the foundations of empire.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Edition: 1
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 20 Sep 2018

ISBN 10: 1472827635
ISBN 13: 9781472827630
Book Overview: A fascinating, illustrated history of forts and castles from their earliest origins to the 20th century.

Author Bio
Jeremy Black, internationally known military historian and Professor of History at the University of Exeter, is the author of The Cold War: A Military History, Rethinking World War Two: The Conflict and its Legacy, Metropolis, Maps of War and Mapping Naval Warfare among many others. He is also a keen writer on maps and their history. This book brings together his two main interests. He lives in Exeter, UK.