Castles and Tower Houses of the Scottish Clans 1450-1650 (Fortress) [Paperback]

Stuart Reid (Author), Graham Turner (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Fortress | Publication Date: March 28, 2006

With the exception of the key royal sites, such as Stirling and Edinburgh, few Scottish castles were located at strategic points, or were intended to house garrisons required to defend or subjugate towns. Instead they were primarily fortified dwelling houses, erected in an environment of weak Royal authority and endemic feuding between rival clans and groups, in both Highland and Lowland areas. Although some enceinte castles were developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, most defensive construction focused on the tower house, a distinctive vernacular style of Scottish fortification. This book examines the design, development, and purpose of these quintessentially Scottish buildings, and also covers larger sites such as Urquhart and Blackness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This fortress book is a real must for those interested in "reviving and retrieving" in the late 16th and early 17th centuries - a nice twist to the standard English Civil War period. The text is well written and is an easy, fun read and a welcomed addition to this writer's library. I am already in the process of building my own border reivers tower house using this book as a reference!" -Historical Miniature Gamer

About the Author

Stuart Reid was born in Aberdeen in1954. His main focus of interest lies in the 18th and 19th centuries, stemming from his ancestors who served in the British Army and the East India Company and who fought at Culloden, Bunker Hill and even in the Texas Revolution. His previous works for Osprey include the titles on King George's Army 1740-93 (Men-at-Arms 285, 289 and 292) and the British Redcoat 1740-1815 (Warriors 19 and 20). He is based in Tyne and Weir, UK.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841769622
• ISBN-13: 978-1841769622
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.2 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,256,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent primer on the subject, July 1, 2006

By 

Spacy Bickerson (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castles and Tower Houses of the Scottish Clans 1450-1650 (Fortress) (Paperback)

Actually the title of this Osprey publication is a bit misleading. Yes a couple of castles are illustrated, but mostly it is about tower houses, their development and construction. Most of the castles and tower houses illustrated are located in the scottish lowlands and none of them are actually associated with a scottish clan, hence the misleading part of the title. As with all Osprey publications don't expect too much since one cannot really go into depth into a subject in only 64 pages. That being said this is a good place to start but hardly the last word on the subject.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Detailed Enough for Historical Fiction Writing Reference, January 23, 2010

By 

Arial Burnz "That's my two pence..." (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Castles and Tower Houses of the Scottish Clans 1450-1650 (Fortress) (Paperback)

It's a small book, as are most of the books in the Osprey Publishing series, so there isn't a tremendous amount of information contained inside...but it was more than enough for what I needed for my historical romance set in Renaissance Scotland. From this book, I was able to determine exactly what style my character's house would be constructed of, the building materials used, what terms I could use (in conjunction with the assistance of an Etymology reference) for describing the castle/tower house and finally wrap my head around how castles and tower houses evolved through this period. Tower houses are a large part of the text in the book, but that's where the architecture went at that point in time.

This is a reference for general castle and tower house construction and evolution during this short 200-year period and does not go into details about clans and their particular homes and structures...except in the text describing the example illustrations of real clan castles. Since my novel takes place in Scotland and countries frequently develop their architecture in their own special ways as well as incorporating the trends of the time, it was the perfect reference for my research. It also goes into defensive characteristics of the structures as well as life during that time in those castles and tower house. I especially liked the "Tour of a Castle: Urquhart" as it showed how old castle keep structures continued to expand through the centuries by their owners, governed by the needs of the time.