Customer Reviews

Castles and Fortresses

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of my favorite "coffee table" books. To begin with, it's huge. The cover is an outstanding photo of the breathtaking Neuschwanstein (there's an even better one on page 96). The first few chapters give an illustrated (via hand drawings as well as awesome photos) history of the castle, its many functions, and its evolution. Chapters 3 through 6 focus on the castles of Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Crusader Regions. The last chapter details more modern castles, walled towns, and palaces; with even more focus on the castle's architectural evolution. Included here among others are the Casa Loma (North America's largest), the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, even the Cinderella Castle at Disney World. If you're a fan of history, architecture, and/or photography, you will not be disapointed with this book.

A marvelous work that actually covers all the aspects of the medieval castle, instead of restating the common facts found in every history text book. Castles and Fortresses in clearly written and the text is supported with glorious photographs and diagrams. An absolute-must have for anyone researching or just interested in the subject. Accept no substitutes.

Wonderful pictures of some of the most famous & picturesque castles in the world. Mostly in Europe. Some history; brief history for most of the featured castles with very general area maps to locate them. Generally one pic per castle and no floorplans or diagrams (another reviewer said diagrams probably meaning the map diagrams). Great book for planning a castle sightseeing trip to Europe.

I would also recommend 'The Medieval Fortress - Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages'. It has a ton of pics, history and floorplans; 10 times better than Sidney Toy's book on Castles.

Covered with large colour photographs from cover to cover, this book is bound to turn any reader into a castle lover.
Whilst this book contains great photographs, this alone is not its only content. The book does in fact contain pages of historical information on the origin of castles, historical overviews of the castle building eras, the different styles, architectures and functions of castles and even an overview of siege engines and castle attack and defence strategies. This book can therefore easily perform the dual function of a coffee table book and a reference book.
Definitely one of my favourite books.

This is a wonderful and beautiful book that shows off the medieval castles we always dreamed about as children. The variety of castles, all shown in beatiful color photographs, present to the reader the various architectures and designs from different countries in Europe, and short written commentary give this book a five star rating. You can enjoy this book if you are in the age range of 3 to 103. This is the best photo book out there that shows off the medieval castles and fortresses of old.

Tour guide to history and spotlight examples throughout the world, including Europe, and modern works in North America along with palaces and walled towns.

Incredible to eye these rising fortresses into the sky, out of rivers and on top of mountains, they are living monuments of protection and engineering and dungeons, etc.

Makes for great reading and viewing.

King Ludwig's Castle Neuschwanstein caught my attention on the cover and I bought the book. The pictures are wonderful and take you into another world. The writing is very well done and greatly informative!

I was looking for a book that combined the history of castles around the world along with beautiful photographs to go with it. That is exactly what I found in Castles and Fortresses. I am fairly knowledgeable in this area but I found an incredible amount of things about certain castles I did not know. This book is great and I recommend it to everyone. You will not be disappointed

I liked this book a lot. It has lots of wonderful pictures. The information is clearly written and tells the history and evolution of the castles. It does't contain much on the more well known castles like Chambord or Linderhof.

This large picture book shows how castles evolved all over Europe. The book is organized by region and thus allows one to study the different regional styles. The rule was that you had to build a castle on a commanding hill and have access to water. With these conditions met, a strong castle could serve as a refuge and survive a long and expensive siege.

There is romanticism to castles that one doesn't always feel upon visiting them. If you visit an old stone castle on a cold and windy day, you'll understand the tradeoffs made between comfort and security. But the pictures are all breathtaking. These were the architectural marvels of their time and the most powerful people ruled from them.

The later castles look so much more inviting and often have well-tended gardens and landscaping to add to their beauty. With the advent of gun powder, the linear walls of the great castles became obsolete. After that, walls had to be made on an incline, but their days were numbered. Finally, the rich and powerful moved to the larger towns and the ruins all tell their own story. This is a beautiful picture book.