Siege warfare is a demanding form of combat which occupies a unique place in military history In contrast to mobile combat a siege centres on a fixed location whether a simple hill fort or an entire walled city & the attacking force has to utilize a mixture of guile patience technology & brute force to wear down their opponents smash through the defences & force submission This book tracks the technology artillery & tactics of starting & maintaining a siege from ancient times to the beginning of the gunpowder age charting the struggle between defensive structures & the various engines designed to overcome them The offensive tools that military engineers designed are closely examined & battering rams trebuchets & ballista are illustrated in minute detail Once walls are breached an attacking force then had to get troops inside & the book also discusses the mining & assault tactics that exploited breaches & what happened once the invaders had penetrated defences The more subtle arts of siege warfare are also explored & the critical roles that negotiation etiquette spies sabotage & infiltration could play for forces both sides of the walls