Customer Reviews

The History of Castles: Fortifications Around the World

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

 

 

This book is great tour guide to many of the most fascinating castles and fortifications in many parts of the world. The many full color photographs and detailed fascinating and clearing written text shows why and how castles were built in different regions. Covers why and how they were used, construction details, and in some cases, how they were destroyed in battle.
Some castles are described in detail with floor plans, designs, color pictures, construction details and castle history.
The many detailed photographs and illustrations present to the reader the various reasons for building a castle and how castles and other fortifications were constructed and used in different parts of the world.
I found this book to be of great help in understanding the design and construction details of medieval castles. While not detailed enough for one to build a castle from this book, it could be a good starting point for those of us that are builders.
Includes almost 200 full-color photographs, 30 recontructions, glossary, and 70 detailed maps.

As a result of visits to several castles in Britain and Europe, I have become interested in the way that castles evolved over the centuries. In particular I like to know the reasons for the inclusion of certain features.
There are many books available about castles, but this is the one that best suits my needs. The first chapter deals with the early beginnings of fortifications, which involved only building walls around towns. Subsequent chapters give information on historical advances in design of castles, country by country, covering Britain and the European continent. There are even a few pages on Japanese fortresses, South American fortifications and North American forts.
The production is classy, being printed on quality paper with appropriate and plentiful coloured illustrations. It is large enough to allow sufficient detail for the interested amateur, but is still not too big and heavy to hold comfortably while seated in your favourite armchair.

I should say that this review is more of a request for the author to improve the book, which would make it outstanding. In its current state, it is merely acceptable.

The photos are great and the coverage of different countries and styles excellent. However, the descriptions are oftentimes boring listing of dates, there are very few anecdotes if any, and the disucussion of different castles is incoherent and inconsistent. Almost every page has a description of a castle without a corresponding picture. Not all castles have a plan. The plans themselves do not follow a consistent style throughout the book. There is no sense of unity or progression in the book. You could practically jump into any page and not miss any of the discussion.

In general, this is recommended as a coffee table book or for browsing the photos. If you are looking for an actual history of castles and fortification, then you will be disappointed.

This book is full of great basic information. I needed to do some research on Castles in general but needed more information than what you can typically get on visitor websites or out of childrens books. I also did not want something that looked like what my sister, the architect would use. This is great, plenty of information but not so overwhelming that you need an engineering degree to understand it. If you like castles, you will love this book.

I found it very interesting. It was a little confusing in some parts. But I found the pictures wonderful and the descriptions adequate. It also contained some of my favorite castles. I gave this as a gift to my friend and he loved it!

I ordered this book with high expectations. Alas, it was a waste of money. The author, I'm sure, knows a lot about castles. However, he is not at all articulate in communicating his knowledge and he has as much logical organisation as a dozen monkeys sitting at typewriters and gibbering away at random. At times, technical terms are introduced without definition, and without appearing in the very limited glossary at the back of the book. Not even the images can make an investment in this book worthwhile -- if arranged and annotated more helpfully, they could have been instructive but as matters stand they are about as much help, and have about as much aesthetic appeal, as holiday snaps found in an abandoned album.

Loved this book, but it came with a punctured binding. Amazon customer service replaced it quickly and at no cost to me.

Best customer service and customer service system/policies I've experienced.

Yay!