The Crossbow: Mediaeval and Modern Military and Sporting, Its Construction, History & Management With a Treatise on The Balista and Catapult of the Ancients and an Appendix on The Catapult, Balista & the Turkish Bow

by Ralph Payne-Gallwey

A treatise on the crossbow. Additionally, the book deals with every related weapon, from the siege engines, balistas and catapults of the ancients, to such weapons as the Turkish bow and the Chinese repeating crossbow. This book also looks at the construction and management of crossbows.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, European History

351 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1985

About the author

Sir Ralph William Frankland-Payne-Gallwey, 3rd Baronet (1848 - 1916) was an accomplished engineer, historian, ballistics expert, and artist.

He authored several books on military and sporting history, theory, and practice. He wrote The Crossbow, which was re-published in 2007 by Skyhorse Publishing.

Reviews

[Tim Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dated but still an excellent and interesting read

[Jacob Tolley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my Nonfiction book report. I thought that this book was pretty good. It was written so that the reader could easily understand the basic function of a crossbow without any previous knowledge. I thought that the pictures and diagrams of the different types and designs of crossbows was really cool to see. I really liked when in the later chapters, it explained how to make and build a crossbow. I also really liked how there was also explanations of siege weapons and how they worked.

[Paul A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource on the many types of crossbows and siege engines that were used throughout history, ranging from the earliest self-type crossbows to windlass steel crossbows. There is even an additional section discussing the Turkish composite bow and its use and construction! Each section is beautifully illustrated and great care is taken in describing the shape and dimensions of each machine. I definitely enjoyed reading about the manufacture and historical context of crossbows, siege engines, and more.

[AskHistorians]

While quite old, and now slightly outdated, this is still one of the most accessible and easiest to acquire histories of the crossbow. Much of the information it contains is still largely correct, even if Payne-Gallwey is over-fond of the steel crossbow and rooted in an antiquated understanding of medieval warfare.

[A.ORCHARD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crossbow

Very informative reading about the history of the crossbow . With good images of all forms of crossbow . Excellent.