'Viollet-le-Duc's Annals of a Fortress is best described as an extended historical novel' writes Christopher Duffy in his new Introduction to this atmospheric history of the imaginary castle 'la Roche-Pont'. Dr Duffy, an authority on the history of fortification, notes that: "Annals of a Fortress makes very good reading. It is in the best sense an essay in the French form of higher vulgarisation, whereby a respected authority, without condescension, is able to present complex issues to a wider public in an accessible form. The author's 'voice' is distinctive and appealing - eloquent always, but also coloured by that feeling for 'patriotic' landscape. A comparison with a strongly-flavoured Burgundy wine is not out of place, for Annals of a Fortress is best savoured in a period of chosen or enforced idleness - at ease under a tree in a summer garden, perhaps, or when you are laid up with a sports injury." Annals of a Fortress charts the evolution of an imaginary French castle, recounts various attempts to seize it – the castle is besieged seven times in the course of its colourful life – and welds together a captivating alternate history that both entertains and throws light on siege warfare and tactics. This atmospheric book, first published in 1875, will be reissued, in paperback, this November (ISBN 1-85367-429-X). Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 102 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com