I Wonder Why Castles Had Moats: and Other Questions About Long Ago

by Philip Steele, Miranda Smith

"Why did churches have steeples?", "Who wore platform shoes?", and "Did people take baths?" are just some of the tricky questions answered in this delightful book about long ago.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Medieval, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1994

About the author

Philip Steele was born in Dorking, Surrey, England. He attended University College, Durham, where he studied modern languages. In the 1970s he worked as an editor for various publishers, including Hodder and Hamlyn. In 1980 he moved to the Isle of Anglesey, in North Wales, where he now lives. He has written on a wide range of topics, especially in the fields of history, junior biography, peoples, and cultures.

Reviews

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book and I wrote a huge review for it but my internet betrayed me and I had to rewrite it less eloquently. It has a lot of small bits of information about feudal life, castles, sieges, weapons of war and those wield them like the knights.
There are also footnotes on chained books, the plague, luxury bathes, sundials, garderobes and other funny facts.
This book is full of hilarious footnotes such as how samurai would bathe before they went to war so they could go to their heaven clean. War is a dirty thing.
I love the information about the Festival of fools where the commoners in Europe would dress like lords and priest and do silly or naughty things. That reminds me a lot of Halloween or the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
I learned that people used to eat on trenchers (big pieces of bread) instead of plates.
I'm glad that this book gives credit to the fashionistas of the time that had the best materials being Italy, Spain and the East. I say that we bring back the pointed shoes and the hennins (pointed hats up to 3 feet tall that looked like church steeples). I also say that we bring back drinking ale or wine throughout the day for each meal instead or water.
I wish there was more about courtly romance and courting.

[David Mensah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for intoducing children to History. The author uses humour via unusual questions to address historical facts in a way that makes it interesting. The book is written in a simple easy to access style and could be used effectivly to appeal to children from the ages of 5 to 8 and maybe older.
Although, the book's main focus is on events during the middle ages, it is filled with lots of historical facts that are put together in a way that would allow a teacher to build a lesson around the subject matter covered. It doesn't go into great detail about the events and topics it covers but opens them up to further discussion. What I find particularly interesting about it, is that it dares to ask questions of history that a lot of us wonder but may not be brave enough to address, such as the toiletrie habits of people in the middle ages.
Using this reading material as an entry into different subjects, teachers could go from one creative history lesson to the other.

[Bat713 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working on my goal of reading all unread books in my children’s library, I chanced on this. Clearly almost brand new, this nonfiction was written for those studying the Middle Ages. Leveled at about Third Grade, it was beautifully illustrated with cartoon drawings and chocked full of info covering the populated world between 470-1450s.Did you know women wore platform shoes to keep out of the mud and water? Also, the Chinese were the first to print books rather than copy. Fun time spent learning new stuff.👍📚

[Alyssa Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun, interesting facts about the middle ages. It makes me think if I will ever survived if I was born during that time.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book. It gives you a lot of information about the old times. I think that 3 graders would like this more because it can give them practice.