In Defending Your Castle, ideas for protecting your homestead, school, or workplace against threats of many types are provided. Such invasions have been as dependable and as constant as death and taxes. In every century, groups, countries, and tribes of people have invaded other groups. The spies opened the gates to the invaders and by morning, Troy had fallen. But at night, Athenian soldiers crawled out of the Trojan Horse, a large hollow statue that the city’s leaders had stupidly brought inside the city walls, unaware of what and who were sitting silently inside. On the night of ApBCE, the citizens of Troy slept soundly, feeling confident that their army and leaders would protect them from the Greek adventurers who stood outside the city walls. Why, I can call the police, or if worse comes to worst, the army will protect me. I have no need to provide for my own defense.
Yes, but, you still may say, that was then and this is now. Using scaling ladders, bows and arrows, and other implements of warfare particular to the earliest known wars, the Egyptian invaders were able to breach the walls and conquer the poor Hittites, causing them to exclaim, We were crushed under your sandals and your might has penetrated our land! For example, diagrams and hieroglyphics on tomb walls in Egypt recount an ancient siege of the Hittite city of Dapur by King Ramses II in the 13th century BCE. Such violence was all too common in ancient times. The only Jerichonian to survive was a single woman to whom Joshua owed a debt of gratitude. Apparently this worked, because the walls, reads the Bible, did fall, allowing the Israelites to sweep into the city. Joshua’s technique included blowing trumpets and marching around the walls while holding the Ark of the Covenant. Perhaps the earliest recorded siege is the destruction of the walled city of Jericho by Joshua and the Israelites in about 1350 BCE. There have been assaults on homes, villages, towns, and cities since the dawn of human civilization. Protecting your castle is now, and always has been, a vitally important skill set.
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If that happens, few things will be as important as knowing how to mount a powerful and well-considered defense of your home and property. Although we are currently experiencing the longest sustained peace between the largest and most powerful countries in history, things could always go haywire, and in a hurry. But-and this is a big but-it has not gone away. Certainly, the world is at least a bit more civilized now than it once was, and the threat of marauding hordes banging down your doors has lessened over time. This book describes methods, machines, and mechanisms for defending your home-your castle-from all sorts of bad actors: city sackers, pillaging pirates, bad guys, trespassers, brigands, hajduks, thuggees, dacoits, and every other organized, semi-organized, or anarchic band of evildoers seeking to bring mayhem and destruction to peaceful, law-abiding people like you.Īfter reading this book’s title, you could be thinking that the projects and advice contained in this book are perhaps eight centuries out of date. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who have stuff and those who want to take other people’s stuff. It’s always been this way, since the first Neanderthal cave dweller barred access to his abode by pushing a large rock in front of the entrance. How far would you go to protect yourself, your family, and your stuff? Most likely, your answer is something along the lines of well, as far as I have to. By the time they’ve reached the last page, at-home defenders everywhere will have succeeded in creating a fully fortified home. Clear step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and photographs show how to build a dozen projects, including “Da Vinci’s Catapult,” “Carpini’s Crossbow,” a “Crusader-Proof Moat,” “Alexander’s Tortoise,” and the “Cheval-de-frise.” With a strong emphasis on safety, the book also gives tips on troubleshooting, explains the physics behind many of the projects, and shows where to buy the materials. Each chapter introduces a new bad actor in the history of warfare, details his conquests, and features weapons and fortifications to defend against him and his minions.
A man’s home is his castle, or so the saying goes, but could it withstand an attack by Attila and the Huns, Ragnar and the Vikings, Alexander and the Greeks, Genghis Khan and the Mongols, or Tamerlane and the Tartars? Backyard Ballistics author William Gurstelle poses this fascinating question to modern-day garage warriors and shows them how to build an arsenal of ancient artillery and fortifications aimed at withstanding these invading hordes.
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