Anatomy of the Castle

by John Gibson

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586631942
• ISBN13: 9781586631949
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: MetroBooks (NY)
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 3.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 9.3" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

A pretty good history/tour guide combo

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.

If you like castles, YOU MUST GET THIS BOOK!

Beautiful pictures of dozens of castles in full color, with 3 panoramic foldouts. Also contains a three page glossary with 9 color pics of selected terms. No floorplans, no maps, no sketches or diagrams to speak of. But it does a good job of the history of castles and showcases many of them.Some of my favorite castles in the book are: Eileen Donan in Scotland; Krak des Chevaliers in the holyland; Alcazar of Segovia in Spain; Burg Eltz in Germany; Raglan Castle in Wales; Craigievar Castle in Scotland; Chambord in France; Bodiam castle in England; and of course, Neushwanstein in Bavaria, Germany.There are many more, but if those don't turn you on, nothin will. Other castle books I recommend: The Medieval Fortress by J.E. Kaufmann; and Castles and Fortresses by Robin S. Oggins