Castles: An Illustrated Guide Through 80 Castles in England and Wales

by Charles Oman

This book is a replica of the original from the collections of The New York Public Library; it was produced from digital images created by The New York Public Library and its partners as part of their preservation efforts. To enhance your reading pleasure, the aging and scanning artifacts have been removed using patented page cleaning technology. We hope you enjoy the result.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman was a British military historian of the early 20th century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. His style is an invigorating mixture of historical accuracy and emotional highlights, and it makes his narratives, though founded on deep research, often read as smoothly as fiction, especially in his History of the Peninsular War. Occasionally, his interpretations have been challenged, especially his widely copied thesis that British troops defeated their Napoleonic opponents by firepower alone. Paddy Griffith, among modern historians, claims the British infantry's discipline and willingness to attack were equally important.

He was born in India, the son of a British planter, and was educated at Oxford University, where he studied under William Stubbs. In 1881 he was elected to a Prize Fellowship at All Souls College, where he would remain for the rest of his career.

He was elected the Chichele Professor of modern history at Oxford in 1905, in succession to Montagu Burrows. He was also elected to the FBA that year, serving as President of the Royal Historical and Numismatic societies, and of the Royal Archaeological Institute.

His academic career was interrupted by the First World War, during which he was employed by the government Press Bureau and Foreign Office.

Oman was a Conservative member of Parliament for the University of Oxford constituency from 1919 to 1935, and was knighted in 1920.

He became an honorary fellow of New College in 1936 and received the honorary degrees of DCL (Oxford, 1926) and LL.D (Edinburgh, 1911 and Cambridge, 1927). He died at Oxford.

Two of his children became authors. Son Charles wrote several volumes on British silverware and similar housewares. Daughter Carola was notable for her biographies, especially that of Nelson.

Reviews

[Sherrill Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1978, so may be slightly outdated.

Oman was a professor at Oxford, knighted in 1920. This is a definitive work of ALL the castles in Southern England and Wales, with a detailed description and B & W photo(s) or beautiful sketches of each one. If you have a favorite, or there is a castle or "mound" near you, this is the book.

An oddity is that nearly everywhere the "st" and "ct" have a little rainbow over the letters. An English / Continental spelling.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully made book whose spine I've stared at for decades finally gets read. The information, the black and white photographs, and the line drawings are all very well done. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll ever open it again, so it's off to the charity shop. (My dislike of oversize books continues.)

Dad underlined a bit about Richard de Clare aka "Strongbow" and his daughter Isabel whom Richard I gave to William the Marshall. He also underlined a passage describing Robin of Redesdale's decapitating Earl William (William the Marshall). There's also a lovely Hmmmm? pointing to a line drawing of the interior of the keep at Usk. I am noting these additions because I'm sure they have something to do with the Knights Templar, his favorite subject.