Fortress

By: Stephen Turnbull, Steve Noon (Illustrator)

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Paperback | 10 May 2009 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
64 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
25.0 x 18.6 x 0.6

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It has been said in China that a city without a wall would be as inconceivable as a house without a roof.

Even the smallest village invariably had some form of defensive wall, while the Great Wall of China was an attempt to build a barrier along the most vulnerable border of the entire country. Yet the finest examples of walled communities were China's walled cities, whose defensive architecture surpassed anything along the Great Wall. This book traces the evolution of the walled city from the 3,000 year old remains of the beaten earth walls of the Shang dynasty to the huge stone fortifications of the Ming dynasty.

Stephen Turnbull, expert military historian, reveals the defensive structures from all the major ancient Chinese cities, and discusses how they protected entire communities, and not just castle dwellers, with colour artwork reconstructions, maps and archive photographs.

Industry Reviews

"This intriguing book is an outstanding introduction to fortifications and siege warfare in Asia over 20 centuries. In addition, it offers suggestions and advice for those interested in seeing these city walls for themselves, as tourism in China has opened so much in recent times. For those interested in fortifications beyond the European culture, this book is highly recommended." --Bolling Smith, Coast Defense Journal (March 2010)

"This is one of the best books in the series on the Orient." --J.E. Kaufmann, Site O, www.siteo.net (July 2009)

"The book covers the complete design and implementation of styles and shows how the various works were modified or improved to meet the needs of the areas in which they were placed... All of this is additionally enhanced by photos of the current sites, period art work and the illustrations of Steve Noon. Though some of the fortifications are either gone or inaccessible, many are still extant and those areas are shown and discussed. In all, a superb addition to the Fortress series and a book that I believe you will find interesting." --Scott Van Aken, www.modelingmadness.com (August 2009)

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Warfare & Defence Military & Defence Strategy Military Tactics History Regional & National History Asian History Arts & Entertainment Architecture Residential Buildings Castles & Fortifications Military Life & Institutions

Military History General & World History War & Defence Operations

Introduction	p. 4
The Chinese dynasties and their fortified cities
Chronology	p. 13
Design and Development	p. 14
Location and layout
Building city walls
Gates and towers Moats, river defences and fortified harbours
The Principles of Defence	p. 21
The Great Fortified Cities of China	p. 24
Zhengzhou: the ancient walled city
Chang'an: the model capital Kaifeng: the fortress on the Yellow River
Beijing: the capital of the north Nanjing: the fortress on the Yangzi
Suzhou: the city on water Pingyao: the great survivor
Zhang Bi: a fortified city in miniature
The Living Sites	p. 40
The fortified city at peace
The fortified city in times of war Military personnel and the siege situation
The Sites at War	p. 47
Yubi, ad 546
Jiankang, ad 548-49
Fengtian, ad 783 Xiangyang and De'an, ad 1206-07
Kaifeng, ad 1232
Shaoxing, ad 1359
The Sites Today	p. 58
Bibliography	p. 62
Glossary	p. 63
Index	p. 64
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Fortress

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

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