From simple palisades to sophisticated fortress-palaces, this book explains how castles evolved to meet the demands of feudal society and improving technology. While centred on British castles, the book constantly sets them in a wider background and makes stimulating comparisons with developments in other countries to show the influences that affected castle builders. Conrad Cairns pays special attention to smaller castles, including the tower-houses of Scotland and Ireland and shows how the castle was also a residential construction. He describes how the changes which brought the Middle Ages to a close made the castle obsolete and how the name was inherited by forts and country houses.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up-- A short but densely written history of British castles from 650 a.d. to 1580. Various chapters cover uses under siege, improving defenses (with a fascinating section on arrowslits), the castle as house and community, and finally the decline of the castle. Unfortunately, the book's format detracts from the information offered. Small print and narrow borders combined with black-and-white photographs and sketches do little to make it attractive. Difficult vocabulary is defined in the glossary. For students with a true interest in the subject, this is an excellent step up from Beth Smith's Castles (Watts, 1988) and David Macaulay's well-illustrated, classic Castle (Houghton, 1977). --Elisabeth LeBris, Kenilworth Public School System, IL
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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