The Book of the Crossbow: With an Additional Section on Catapults and Other Siege Engines (Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor) [Paperback]

Ralph Payne-Gallwey (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor | Publication Date: March 26, 2009

This fascinating study, the only book devoted exclusively to the crossbow, traces its use as a military and sporting weapon as well as its construction and management in medieval and modern times. The work also covers such related weapons as the balista, catapult, Turkish bow, and more. Over 240 illustrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (March 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486287203
• ISBN-13: 978-0486287201
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #622,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for crossbow builders, July 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of the Crossbow: With an Additional Section on Catapults and Other Siege Engines (Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor) (Paperback)

This book is an interesting look at crossbows and siege engines, with lots of useful info for the DIY armourer. It's weakness is that it's written at the beginning of the century, and a little dated, both in writing style and content. I.e. modern materials are quite naturally not covered. It's strong points are the excellent drawings and illustrations. Highly recomennded overall.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lavishly illustrated introduction to Crossbows., July 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of the Crossbow: With an Additional Section on Catapults and Other Siege Engines (Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor) (Paperback)

The all-time bestseller with a first edition as far back as 1903, later to appear with the 1907 appendix, was written by an amateur (in the true sense of the word) of archery who apparently had an unlimited source of money and time, but only modest background in physics. Along with the history of the crossbow, detailed accounts of the construction and maintenance of various crossbows designed for bolts and bullets are given. Related and/or relevant medieval weapon, like longbow, ballista and arquebus, are also treated in some detail, and the 1907 appendix on turkish bows serves to give a most interesting contrast to european archery of the epoch. When it comes to performance and comparison of the variety of weapon described, maximum range and -sometimes- draw force is the only information given, whereas obvious ballistic terms like exit velocity, time-of-flight and air resistance are conspicuously absent. Some self-evident details of construction or handling, clearly vi! sualized by the illustrations, are too often spelled out in full, while more obscure mechanisms of elaborate trigger systems, which would benefit from a whole lot more detailed explanation, are treated casually. This said, it must be stressed that on the whole it IS a very fine piece of work, made by a historian rather than an engineer, a book without a match for almost a century, and certainly well worth recommending.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For all who are curious, the definitive guide., January 14, 1998

By 

Eric Oppen (Iowa Falls, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of the Crossbow: With an Additional Section on Catapults and Other Siege Engines (Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor) (Paperback)

This book is, quite frankly, the one-stop place to look for information not only about all aspects of crossbows, but related subjects such as the Chinese chu-ko-nu, or "repeater crossbow," seige engines, and other related topics. The author apparently had enough money and spare time to actually experiment, and living in pre-World-War-I Britain, had access to actual original examples of a lot of the weapons he wished to study. Building copies to test them, he came up with definite figures on how they worked and how well they worked, or didn't.