Vauban under siege : : engineering efficiency and martial vigor in the War of the Spanish Succession / / Jamel Ostwald.

• Superior document: History of warfare ; v. 41
• Author: Ostwald, Jamel.
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: History of warfare ; 41.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xii, 390 pages) :; illustrations, maps
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Vauban under Siege is the first systematic comparison of the theory of Vaubanian siegecraft with its reality. It places Vauban’s siege accomplishments back into their broader context, highlighting his continuation of the quest for ever-greater efficiency pursued by a century of military engineers. Based on a comprehensive inventory of sieges in the War of the Spanish Succession, it describes how both French and Allied military officers rejected this efficiency paradigm and embraced instead vigorous brute force tactics. Ignoring their over-worked and under-compensated engineers at key points, generals chose to save precious campaign time by sacrificing their soldiers’ lives in siege after siege. This early modern cult of the offensive has influenced the Western way of war ever since. Winner of the 2009 Distinguished Book Award of the Society for Military History.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Materials / J. Ostwald -- Chapter One. Introduction / J. Ostwald -- Chapter Two. The Perfect Siege Of Ath 1697 / J. Ostwald -- Chapter Three. Efficiency And The Perfect Siege / J. Ostwald -- Chapter Four. The Transitional War Of The Spanish Succession / J. Ostwald -- Chapter Five. Implementing The Paradigm Siege / J. Ostwald -- Chapter Six. Contesting The Paradigm Siege / J. Ostwald -- Chapter Seven. Vigor: An Alternative Paradigm / J. Ostwald -- Chapter Eight. Succeeding With Vigor / J. Ostwald -- Chapter Nine. The Vigorous Future / J. Ostwald -- Appendices / J. Ostwald -- Bibliography / J. Ostwald -- Index / J. Ostwald.