The Book of the Crossbow: With an Additional Section on Catapults and Other Siege Engines (repost)

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.

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. 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.