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Master craftsmen from the renowned Scarefactory in Columbus, Ohio take on a spellbinding challenge from HISTORY?: to re-create some of the most inventive, and fascinating, devices ever made. In an effort to understand ancient inventions and weaponry, the team fabricates the elements just as they would have been made centuries and even millennia ago--and then goes on to test them! This 3-DVD set illuminates China's early use of gunpowder and rocket-propelled fire arrows, the battering rams and missile launchers of the Romans, as well as the medieval morning star mace and Chinese semiautomatic repeating crossbow. SURVIVING HISTORY documents the fiendish ingenuity that went into inventions of persuasion and punishment, devices with names like iron maiden, Judas cradle, strappado, whirligig, rack, shame flute, chastity belt, and heretic's fork. Not for the faint of heart, the set is an eye-opening, informative journey into humankind's undeniably dark, brutal side.Episodes include the following ancient inventions, tactics, and weaponry:Archimedes' Death Ray, Baghdad Batter, Barrel Roll, Bastinado, Branks, Brazen Bull, Cat o'Nine Tails, Catalan Garrote, Chastity Belt, Chinese Repeating Crossow, Ducking Stool, Fire Arrows, Heron's Steam Engine, Iron Boot, Iron Maiden, Judas Cradle, Morning STar Mace, Roman Missile Launching, Shame Flute, Strappado, The Gallows, The Joust, The Pretzel, The Rack, Twenty-Foot-Tall Pendulum, Whirligig.