Castles of God: Fortified Religious Buildings of the World [Paperback]

Peter Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 21, 2007

Throughout history, great faiths have been subjected to persecution and attack from beyond the wall - literally walls, in Peter Harrison's remarkable book of the great monastery-fortresses, and church-fortresses, of the world. The fortified religious buildings of Christendom, Islam and Tibetan Buddhism are some of the most dramatic buildings of the middle ages. Though they shared a common purpose in defending the living faith from the armies of the unbeliever, they are astonishingly different from each other. Peter Harrison has spent a lifetime in scholarly pursuit of fortified religious buildings dating from a thousand years ago and more, in the Old and New Worlds, the Orient, and the Occident, ranging through New Mexico, North Africa and Tibet, though the majority are to be found in Europe. The wild, often hostile, terrain in which these fortresses were built speaks of a militant faith, and Peter Harrison's purpose is to show how and why religious establishments incorporated military architecture. He considers this unstudied subject from a uniquely wide point of view, historical, military, and architectural. Every form of religious building that received fortifications is illustrated, from the humble parish churches of the Anglo-Scottish Borders to the Potala Palace of the Dalai Lama and the Vatican. Particular features of this book are the author's photographs, taken in some of the wildest and most inaccessible parts of the world, and his own very detailed plans and illustrations of many of the buildings described. SHORTLISTED FOR THE LONGMAN-HISTORY TODAY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2005 AWARD. Dr PETER HARRISON is Research Associate, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A tremendous book...well supported by some spectacular photographs. --Casemate

About the Author

Dr Peter A. Harrison is Research Associate at the Centre for Medieval Studies, the University of York; Craft member, of the Society of Heraldic Arts; and Member of the Fortress Study Group and the Castles Study Group. He is author of many publications on medieval religious and secular fortifications, and a retired medical practitioner.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Boydell Press (June 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843833387
• ISBN-13: 978-1843833383
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,982,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Oxymoron, August 29, 2005

By 

Chris Sterling "Castle maven" (Annandale, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castles of God: Fortified Religious Buildings of the World (Hardcover)

The idea of a fortified church strikes most of us as odd and even unneeded--but as Harrison illustrates in text, color photos and his fine drawings and plans, this was not always the case. The 17 chapters cover different parts of the world (primarily Europe and Asia, and including the Middle East) to explore why such structures were needed, who build them, when, and what remains to be seen today. Hundreds of buildings are included, from the fascinating fortified churches of Transylvania to the fort-like religious buildings in parts of the Middle East. Religious strife and bickering led to many different architectural answers in the buildings put up and defended. While many were erected to defend Christianity, we also see here examples from Islam and the Himalayas. Fascinating---a veritable tour guide.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars historical reference, not an art/photography book, June 19, 2011

By 

bored99 (Hamden, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Castles of God: Fortified Religious Buildings of the World (Paperback)

Just one quick note - despite being categorized by Amazon as "art/photography," this book is more of a historical reference work. There are 10-15 pages of castle photographs in the middle, but the vast majority of the book is text. (I was looking for books of castle pictures to inspire elementary school students, and this is the wrong book for such a thing.)