The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789

The later 17th and the 18th centuries have been rightly acclaimed as the classic period of artillery fortification. This was an era when fortresses and fortress systems shaped the calculations of strategists and statemen, and often dictated the course of campaigns. Italian and Dutch traditions of fortress design were brought to perfection, and towards the end of the period Frederick the Great and Montalembert opened the way for ring forts and other concepts which were going to dominate fortification in the nineteenth century.

It was an important age, for it was one of almost constant conflict, and Christopher Duffy explores the influence of the fortress in the dynastic wars of Bourbon, Habsburg and Hohenzollern, the contest for influence in the Baltic, the last Crusades of the West against the Turks, and in the peculiar conditions of colonial campaigning and the War of the American Independence.

The celebrated Vauban and Coehorrn are put in the context of their place and time, and they are considered in their role as besiegers as well as builders of fortresses. Eric Dahlberg, Prospero Verboom and other important practitioners of fortress warfare, who are usually ignored by historians, are now given the attention they deserve.

The book is written in English entirely and illustrated with more than 150 photos, drawings, plans and maps. One of the most important books on fortifications of the last 30 years or so!