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Lädt ... Besieged Rhodes: A New Historyvon Robert Douglas Smith, Kelly DeVries (Autor)
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In 1480 the Ottoman Turkish army and artillery that had defeated the Byzantine Empire arrived on Rhodes to attack the walled headquarters of the Crusading military order, the Knights Hospitaller. After a siege of three months during which time the Turks bombarded the walls daily with gunpowder weapons they withdrew, defeated. In 1522 they returned and, after a six-month siege, captured Rhodes but were unable to defeat the Hospitallers who were allowed to leave with their lives, arms and religious emblems. This book uniquely uses the eyewitness accounts, surviving guns and extant walls to tell the story of these two sieges, and the efforts made by the Hospitallers to adapt their fortifications and artillery to defy the most powerful military power in the world. In doing so it rewrites the history of fortifications and gunpowder artillery during the Renaissance. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)949.587History and Geography Europe Other parts Greece and the Byzantine Empire The dictatorship of the colonels 1967-1974Klassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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The focus of the two authors, as in their earlier book about the Burgundian artillery, lies on .the power and change of artillery as a decisive factor why the one siege failed and the other succeeded. Nearly half of the book is dedicated to a "cannon catalogue" and the "walls" (an inventory of the defensive structures). The constraints of budget and space made the latter part not as sumptuous as it could/should have been. The numerous 2 cm x 3 cm pictures are just too small to reveal much. This project should better have been set up as a joint book and website where the tiny pictures in the book led to large images on the web. Content-wise, the discussion of the arms race between gunmakers and fortress engineers is well done and interestingly presented.
The highlight of the book, however, is the contemporary altar piece from 1485 illustrating the first siege of 1480 which is depicted in the book in high quality color images. The great story of the two sieges is well told in a hundred pages.This is rather too short. I would have preferred a longer narrative part and shorter appendices. Overall, it is still a great addition to any library of a reader interested in this tiny side show at the border of cultural Europe. The big revenge of the Hospitalers in 1565, the Ottoman's one island too far is also not given an extensive discussion. It is, however, a good sign if one craves for more information and the next book of the two authors. ( )