The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets, and More Ancient Artillery

This is a juvenile title that is well illustrated with step by step directions for building several working models of weapons (from a simple sling to a trebuchet). It even gives directions for making rope. In addition to showing how to make siege engines, it covers their history, the reasons they were developed, how they were used and what caused a decline in their popularity. I can see a student using this book to make a model for a history class, or an SCA group adapting the information for a full-sized weapon.

This book is divided as chapters that begin with a narration of a battle or siege, and then and then presents the instructions on how to build several catapults. I learned my archetype of a catapult is an onagre, and that is one of the oldest kind, so I am severely obsolete. The instructions on how to build the models are very clear and easy to follow. The book is appropriate for young audiences, yet entertaining for adults too. I built the onagre as depicted here. It can throw little wood blocks up seven feet away without touching the ground (it slides some more). In my first attempt the block would not go farther than one feet, and I realized the rope was twisting the thread in two different directions, and corrected the twisting. Tried it with different numbers and types of threads. In the end, using eight loops of candlewick, it snapped the wood where the nail penetrated. I will build a new one, using glue instead of nails, to see if it holds up better. Lots of fun!

This is a fun book. The author does a good job of leading the reader through some history of war focusing on the role of the catapult. He points out that historically there have been three types of military units, the hard hitting infantry, the fast moving cavalry, and then the artillery. I liked his description of the catapult: catapults make something big go whoosh and then splat. The basic approach of the book is to cover the usages of catapults through the ages, and then show how to make a model the given type of catapult. It was interesting and informative to see the different types of catapults: 1) Tension - basically a big bow and big arrows 2) Torsion - using rows to provide the tension 3) Traction - using lots of people to pull on ropes 4) Gravity - using heavy objects, like lots of rocks The book has a nice layout. The pictures and diagrams are good. The instructions on how to build the various types of model catapults are detailed and well written. If you are interested in a brief history of catapults and/or interested in building some model catapults, buy this book.

I was really impressed with this book while sitting sipping a cup of coffee. Wondering to myself, how could I use this to have fun with my family if we lived in a space with, of all things, space.This book not only shows how to make catapults of various types. It goes into the history of how the catapult was made or as it transformed throughout history. There are short vignettes about various historical subjects surrounding seizes throughout time and what types of catapults were used, what they looked like and how to build something like it using easy to but materials. This is a fun book for the hobbyist who likes to tinker with things and how has a flair for fun projects (or projectiles for that matter.) I will buy this book when I get a place and I hope it sells for those who want to work with their kids on a fun project.The Art of the Catapult is a fun romp....if you liked Lord of The Rings, you will like this book, putting catapults in perspective.