Defending Your Castle: Build Catapults, Crossbows, Moats, Bulletproof Shields, and More Defensive Devices to Fend Off the Invading Hordes

178 Pages·2014·30.76 MB·English

by  William Gurstelle

DEFENDING
YOUR CASTLE
Build Catapults, Crossbows, Moats, Bulletproof
Shields, and More Defensive Devices
to Fend Off the Invading Hordes
WILLIAM GURSTELLE
An A Cappella Book
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 1 3/27/14 4:44 PM
Copyright © 2014 by William Gurstelle
All rights reserved
Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 978-1-61374-682-0
The author and the publisher of this book disclaim all liability incurred in connection
with the use of the information contained in this book.
Questions? Comments? Visit www.DefendingYourCastle.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gurstelle, William.
Defending your castle : build catapults, crossbows, moats, bulletproof shields,
and more defensive devices / William Gurstelle.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61374-682-0 (trade paper)
1. Catapult—Design and construction. 2. Crossbows—Design and construction.
3. Fortification—Design and construction. 4. Siege warfare. I. Title. II.
Title: Build catapults, crossbows, moats, bulletproof shields, and more
defensive devices.
U873.G87 2014
623.4'41—dc23
2013046712
Cover design and art: Damien Scogin
Interior design: Scott Rattray
Interior illustrations: Damien Scogin
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 2 3/20/14 11:51 AM
My father, Harold, my brother, Steven, and my father-in-law,
Milton, were in the US armed forces and served during World
War II, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War, respectively.
This book is dedicated to them and to all the veterans who
have defended our castles.
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 3 3/20/14 11:51 AM
Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules!
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 4 3/20/14 11:51 AM
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 A Cast of Bad Actors 1
General Safety Guidelines
11
2 Genghis Khan and the Mongols 13
Hudun Pao: The Crouching
Tiger Catapult
20
Carpini’s Crossbow
29
Mongol Smoke Monster
39
3 Attila and the Huns 43
The Palisade Wall
48
The Hidden Book Safe
56
4 Alexander the Great and the Greeks 63
Alexander’s Tortoise
71
The High-Tech Backpack Shield
80
5 Tamerlane and the Tatars 87
The Tatar-Proofed Castle Door
93
Da Vinci’s Catapult
105
6 Peter the Hermit and His Crusaders 121
Crusader-Proof Moat
126
7 Ragnar Lodbrok and the Vikings 131
The Cheval-de-frise
139
The Hourglass Watchtower
144
8 Conclusion 159
Notes 162
Selected Bibliography 164
Index 165
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 5 3/27/14 3:22 PM
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 6 3/20/14 11:51 AM
aCknoWledGments
Iw ould like to express my gratitude to the people who saw me
through this book; to all those who provided support, provided
me a platform for talking things over, provided information and
background, and offered comments, inspiration, and ideas. In partic-
ular, I thank my wonderful wife, Karen Hansen Gurstelle: creative,
clearheaded, and thorough. This book could not have been written
without her.
vii
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 7 3/20/14 11:51 AM
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 8 3/20/14 11:51 AM
1
a Cast of
Bad aCtors
How far would you go to protect yourself, your family, and your
stuff? Most likely, your answer is something along the lines of
“well, as far as I have to.” It’s always been this way, since the
first Neanderthal cave dweller barred access to his abode by pushing a
large rock in front of the entrance.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who have stuff
and those who want to take other people’s stuff.
This book describes methods, machines, and mechanisms for
defending your home—your castle—from all sorts of bad actors: city
sackers, pillaging pirates, bad guys, trespassers, brigands, hajduks,
thuggees, dacoits, and every other organized, semi-organized, or anar-
chic band of evildoers seeking to bring mayhem and destruction to
peaceful, law-abiding people like you.
After reading this book’s title, you could be thinking that the
projects and advice contained in this book are perhaps eight centuries
out of date. Well, maybe they are. Certainly, the world is at least a
1
i-viii_1-168_DYC.indd 1 3/20/14 11:51 AM