Castle under Seige, Vol. 2 Book

Describes the siege of castles throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East beginning with the Gauls' attempt to take Rome in 390 B.C. and ending in the fifteenth ...

Children's Literature

The Medieval period with the romantic notions of knights, damsels in distress, and enchanting castles has long been a topic that draws young students' interest. As one of four titles in the series "The Age of Castles" this new contribution does an excellent job of combining ancient European history and the development of weaponry with facts about castles by using sieges on castles as its focus. Organization gets a high rating as a glossary, timeline, index, and bibliography are included. Somewhat dull but detailed illustrations are combined with actual photographs of famous castles to aid in the reader's understanding of the various sieges described. The text if filled with attention-grabbing details such as the siege of castle Nicaea in Turkey where crusaders used a trebuchet to bombard the walls with the heads of Turkish prisoners of war, or when diseased corpses were fired over castle walls at the siege of Tana in Russia in 1346. Also interesting is the evolution of weaponry that was spurred by the need to conduct successful sieges on castles throughout the Middle Ages. A great source for students and interested readers on many aspects of world history.