Anatomy of the Castle

by John Gibson

The word "castle" conjures up images ranging from the stone-towered fortresses of medieval Europe to huge royal dwellings that have never seen a clash of arms. In fact, the true castle has a long, far-ranging history that distinguishes it from the fort, the palace, and the mythical realms of Arthurian England. A fortified dwelling built for strategic purposes, its primary function was to deter aggression, and, failing that, to withstand a siege. First built by families and tribal groups, such fortified places on strategic sites grew in size and importance, eventually forming the nuclei of walled towns. Richly illustrated in full-color, with panoramic foldouts, revealing photographs, and schematic diagrams, Anatomy of the Castle traces the origins of this majestic stronghold from Iron Age hill forts to feudal kingdoms through the Crusader era, post-Medieval, and into early modern times, when longbows, battering rams, and catapults were replaced by cannon and mortar.

-- Details all the key castle types, and includes examples from all over the world
-- Features more than two hundred full-color photographs and four unique gatefolds
-- Close-up details and specially commissioned diagrams illustrate the evolution of elements of the castle from dungeons to battlements

Genres: History, Reference, Nonfiction, Medieval

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whether it’s your basic, practical Norman motte and bailey, built quickly of trimmed logs and heaped-up dirt, or whether it’s King Ludwig’s picturesque Neuschwanstein fantasy, castles of all sorts are fascinating to a great many people. Since I have a strong, quasi-professional interest in medieval warfare, I find the surviving “working” castles in this oversize volume of particular interest. Gibson is a career officer and Sandhurst graduate, and he does a respectable job of combining political and military history with (lets face it) a pictorial tour guide to Europe’s most interesting fortifications. Though he goes heavy on Britain, of course. The approach is historical, from the Roman proto-castles, the Norman invention of the stone keep, and the crusader castles of the Middle East, to the classics like Dover Castle and Raglan, to the reasons for the replacement of the tall, vertical wall by the drastically redesigned artillery fort and star-shaped town fortification. The last section combines the 19th century taste for follies in the form of miniature castles (Walter Scott and Ivanhoe have a lot to answer for) with a discussion of what it was like to live in a castle, both in peacetime and under siege. There’s not a lot here that’s original, but the author is mostly successful at synthesizing numerous previous sources. He does make some odd editorial choices, though. He almost entirely ignores Windsor Castle -- nine centuries old and the largest inhabited castle in Europe -- yet includes the Alhambra, which I have a lot of trouble thinking of as a “castle.” There are also a few typos (I’m pretty sure the relief of Orleans by Joan of Arc was in 1429, not 1492), but this volume is nevertheless a great way to lose a weekend.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info, awesome pictures

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average