Malcolm Hislop

This is a solid introductory resource on a fascinating topic! I've been blessed to visit England a number of times, and appreciated revisiting it through this book (especially whenever a familiar name--whether castle, person, or event--popped up). How fun, in particular, for Berwick-upon-Tweed to appear; I still distinctly remember passing through the town via train with my dad on our first trip to Great Britain (and we still kick ourselves for not exploring it, heh).

I was a little worried show more at first that the pictures were in black and white, but that ended up working out surprisingly well here. I only wish there were more pictures! :) (Always a balancing act, for sure.)

This book's strength is as a starting point, to trigger/prompt additional research; the introduction freely admits it is not exhaustive, nor could it be and succeed. It allows the reader to do their own research how they wish.

The text can be a bit dry at times, but that might just be me and my own preferences (especially perusing this on the heels of a few high-action fiction reads). So, that aside, a worthy endeavor that succeeds in what it set out to do.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. show less

Part of a series, including the previously reviewed How to Read a Church. A “castle” is distinguished from a “fort” by being a fortified residence; the book covers primarily European castles (and Crusader castles in the Middle East), although there’s some space devoted to Japanese yamashiro and tenshukaku. After an introduction about design and construction, each architectural feature – the great tower, the walls, the gateway, etc. – gets a chapter. Useful of you want to know show more when a battlement is a crenellation and the difference between a wall tower, a turret, and a bartizan. Well written and an easy read. The illustrations, all drawings, are outstanding; the bibliography is short but the book is supposed to be a small and handy. Not too much use to me in Colorado, but I suppose Bent’s Fort is arguably a castle, since it was primarily a defended residence. show less

A solid reference to castle architecture that is generally well organized, starting with earthworks before moving to timber, stone and then [fancy] brick. From primitive redoubts, to basic donjons (I had to look that up) and then to ostentatious residences. It is billed as an introduction, and it probably is, but there are several architectural terms that I was not familiar with, so be prepared to look them up as needed (there is a decent glossary in the back). I would also have liked more show more conceptual illustrations (it has a few pictures and fewer illustrations ... but for an intro book, it could do with a lot more). The book references the details from a lot of actual [British and French] castles that, while mildly interesting, didn't really mean much to me (a casual tourist who has actually visited some of them). As we get deeper into the book, we get see several names (of designers, architects, engineers and other famous master craftsmen) dropped that I assume would have been well known in some circles, but they were just names to me (so a quick summary/bio for some of these might have helped). Over all, if you probably will get a lot more out of the book if you have at least some background in historical architecture.

Piecing together design intent from earlier castles now in disrepair can certainly be a challenge, so the beginning of the book really focuses on [smaller] known details that I had trouble placing into a complete picture. Still ... I did learn a little about castle construction, even while failing to understand a fair amount of the book. There were a few reasonable connections to ecclesiastical architecture, showing how the specialist [master] craftsmen and engineers/architects applied what they learned on one to the other. It also spends a lot of time on towers, which are arguably a central part of most castles. We get to the military aspect of castles about half-way through (chapter 7). Now things get interesting ...

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#CastleBuilders #NetGalley show less

Castle Builders by Malcolm Hislop

The research that went into this book delves into the building of castles in the Middle Ages. It looks at the ability to defend that specific area from towers, how it sits in relation to water for drinking and travel.

You get a feel for the scientific approach to designing castles, so long ago. The pencil drawings are numerous and helpful in understanding what the castles look like.

There are a lot of measurements in the book, how large the castle is, the size show more and shape of rooms. It describes what materials were used in building the castle walls.

Overall, very informative. An architect interested in history would greatly enjoy this book. Most of the castles are in England, but there are some from many different places.

Many thanks to Pen and Sword Archaeology and Net Galley for the complimentary copy I was under no obligation to post a review. show less