Tiny Castles

by Dixe Wills

The very first compendium of Britain’s most interesting diminutive castles, written in an amusing, accessible style. Praised by BBC Countryfile Magazine for writing "intelligently and amusingly, with evident excitement and imagination," Dixe Wills unleashes his trademark style on the tiniest castles in Britain. Beautifully presented in full colour throughout, the book uncovers more than 60 of the country’s loveliest and most compelling castles. No crumbling ruins are included here—only only relatively complete castles with enough features intact to explore and enjoy are listed, although all are delightfully diminutive. From Henry VIII’s beautifully preserved St Mawes Castle in Cornwall to Scalloway Castle in Shetland, where it is said the blood and hair of the cruel Earl Patrick’s tenants were used in the mortar, many of these tiny fortresses occupy a unique place in history.
 

Genres: History, Travel, Nonfiction, Architecture

320 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Assuming for a moment that we are what we do, I’m an author and freelance non-flying travel journalist. I’ve written a number of genre-bending books and one or two that give librarians fewer dilemmas. My most recent work is Tiny Stations (AA) which is a journey through the penumbric world of Britain’s railway request stops. Prior to Tiny Stations, I penned Tiny Islands (AA) and Tiny Campsites (Punk). Before the mania for all things tiny struck me, I managed to knock out a few non-size-specific books, including The Z-Z of Great Britain, Places to Hide in England, Scotland and Wales, New World Order (Wills Weltordnung in its Bloomsbury Berlin edition) and, under the name Johnson P Johnson, The Armchair Naturalist (all Icon).

I write for the UK newspaper The Guardian, mainly on green travel. You can read my articles here. You might also find me popping up in other newspapers (though not ones owned by Rupert Murdoch or edited by Paul Dacre, you’ll be pleased to learn) and magazines, some of which you’ll find listed here. I host a monthly spoken word night-cum-pub quiz mash up called Stranger than Fiction that you really ought to come along to because it’s great fun and only costs six quid. I also have a cracking Isle of Dogs-based romcom script unjustly gathering dust in a cupboard. Is there no start to my talents?

Reviews

[Alastair Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has the foundation to be really fascinating, but unfortunately it just misses the mark slightly. 60 castles across Great Britain which whilst small are just as interesting as some of the larger ones is a great concept but it doesn't quite deliver. The information is slightly scattered across each entry, missing small things which would have helped massively, like a timeline, siteplan etc, instead each entry is just a few pages of text. Some of it jumps between various monarchs etc without references,

It is definitely worth a read to discover some new castles to visit, but I do think it missed a trick.

[Ronald Schoedel III · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy book to pick up when one has a few minutes and wants to find inspiration for future travels or just pick up some interesting and occasionally eclectic history. As always, Wills has selected some very interesting subjects to include within and his essays are always entertaining and informative.

[Chris Shepheard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book, well written and full of the fascinating and involved history of each of the 60 castles featured. Lots of good quality and detail filled photographs though these are sadly let down by the total absence of any descriptive captions which would have made the compilation so much more informative.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book. The author is informative and humorous and really inspires you to want to get out there a wander around the countryside looking for these gems.