The Vauban Fortifications of France

Vauban was the foremost military engineer of France, not only during his lifetime, but also throughout the 18th century when his legacy and methods remained in place almost unchanged. Indeed, his expertise and experience in the construction, defence, and attack of fortresses is unrivalled by any of his contemporaries, of any nationality. In all three of those fields he was a significant innovator and prolific exponent, having planned approximately 160 major defensive projects and directed over 50 sieges. This book provides not only a modern listing of his varied interventions and their fates, but also a wide-ranging discussion of just how and why they pushed forward the international boundaries of the arts of fortification.

Paddy Griffith is a freelance military historian based in Manchester. His groundbreaking books on low-level tactics include Forward Into Battle (1981 and 1990), Battle Tactics of the Civil War (1986) and Battle Tactics of the Western Front (1994). He has also written extensively on wargames, and is currently active in the South Manchester Tactical Society and in the Battlefields Trust.