Sebastien Le Pestre, Marshal Vauban, was one of the greatest military engineers of all time. His complex, highly sophisticated fortress designs, his advanced theories for the defence and attack of fortified places, and his prolific work as a writer and radical thinker on military and social affairs, mark him out as one of the most influential military minds of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Yet no recent study of this extraordinary man has been published in English. James Falkner, in this perceptive and lively new account of Vauban's life and work, follows his career as a soldier from a dashing and brave young cavalry officer to his emergence as a masterful military engineer. And he shows that Vauban was much more than simply a superlative builder of fortresses, for as a leading military commander serving Louis XIV, he perfected a method for attacking fortifications in the most effective way, which became standard practice until the present day. James Falkner's new study will add significantly to the understanding of Vauban's achievements and the impact his work has had on the history of warfare. SELLING POINTS: A reassessment of the life and work of one of the greatest military engineers. Insight into the design and construction of Vauban's fortresses. Considers him as a commander as well as a builder. Analyses his method for attacking and defending strongpoints. Considers his enduring influence on the history of warfare. Gazetteer of Vauban's fortifications. AUTHOR: James Falkner is a leading writer on seventeenth and eighteenth-century warfare and he has made a special study of the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) and the military exploits of the Duke of Marlbrough. His book, Great and Glorious Days: Marlborough's Battles 1704-1709, is one of the most outstanding studies of the subject. A former British army infantry officer, he has frequently led tours of the eighteenth-century battlefields. His most recent books include battlefield guides to Blenheim 1704 and Ramillies 1706, Marlborough goes to War: Eyewitness Accounts 1702-1713, Marlborough's Sieges, Marlborough's Battlefields, and Fire Over the Rock: The Great Siege of Gibraltar 1779-1783. ILLUSTRATIONS: 75 b/w & colour illustrations *

Author Biography

James Falkner is a leading authority on eighteenth-century warfare and he has made a special study of the military exploits of the 1st Duke of Marlborough. His book, Great and Glorious Days: Marlborough's Battles 1704-1709, is one of the outstanding studies of the subject. His other books include Blenheim 1704, Ramillies 1706, Marlborough Goes to War: Eyewitness Accounts 1702-1713, Marlborough's Sieges, Marlborough's Battlefields, Fire Over the Rock: The Great Siege of Gibraltar 1779-1783, Marshal Vauban and the Defence of Louis XIV's France, Marlborough's War Machine and The War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714.