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Anatomy of a Siege: King John's Castle, Limerick, 1642. By Kenneth Wiggins. Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell Press, 2001. ISBN 0-85115-827-7. Maps. Photographs. Illustrations. Notes. Appendixes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xix, 306. $55.00.
Can archaeologists write good military history? Kenneth Wiggins proves they can in this, literally, ground-breaking study of "underground warfare" in the early modern period. A quarter-century ago, nautical archaeologist Colin Martin probed the depths of the seas surrounding Ireland, drew from the sunken wreckage far-reaching conclusions about the siege guns of the Spanish Armada of 1588, and rekindled debate over the military revolution. The intrusion of that particular archaeologist was catalytic, and led to prototype "virtual history" articles (Geoffrey Parker's "If the Armada had landed" and Conrad Russell's...