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An illustrated guide to around 50 of Britain and Ireland's greatest castles, examining lineage, architecture, artifacts and gardens. ... Read more

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Spanning the years from 1714 to the start of the twenty-first century, this book includes the period?s finest examples of British architecture. An in-depth guide to the history of every house features information on its design, construction and the stories of its best-known inhabitants, as well as profiles of celebrated architects. ... Read more

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Glamis Castle - the childhood home of HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother - has captured the imagination of successive generations of visitors by virtue of its architectural splendour and royal associations. This book presents a detailed account of the buildings and gardens of Glamis Castle. Using a combination of site investigation and the examination of material from the family archives, the author presents a comprehensive picture of the castle's development from its origins in the 14th century to the present day. Weaving the strands of family history into the castle's architectural development, the author traces its various incarnations: from medieval castle to royal palace in the sixteenth century, from a great house in the Scottish Baronial style at the beginning of the seventeenth century to a baroque palace at the end, and finally to an enormous late Victorian country house of 'little comfort and less convenience'. Glamis has also featured in many historical and literary works, from Shakespeare's Macbeth to Sir Walter Scott's novels, and the author completes his study of the castle by surveying the myths and legends that have grown up around it. ... Read more

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Belsay, Northumberland, has been described as the northern jewel in the crown of English Heritage to whose care it was entrusted in 1980. For 800 years there have been Middletons at Belsay, living first in the Norman castle, a Border stronghold, later in the Jacobean house and, finally, in the Grecian mansion of golden sandstone designed and built by Sir Charles Monck from stone quarried on the estate. In the quarry, Sir Charles built a garden which attracts many thousands of visitors every year. This account of the Castle - by his grandson, Sir Arthur - is illustrated with ink drawings, plans and photographs. Originally privately published in 1910 it is now made publicly available in a new edition with an historical introduction, a gazetteer of architectural terms and previously unpublished drawings by the 19th-century antiquarian, William Twopeny. Several watercolours from a recently discovered album belonging to Lady Mary Monck, Sir Charles' second wife are also reproduced here. ... Read more

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This text aims to bring to life every aspect of castles and castle life: why and how they were built; the weapons that were used; their social life in ordinary and extraordinary times; their provisioning; their maintenance; and their changing role in a continually evolving political climate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Castles: military enclaves
A fascinating study of castles, utilizing the unusual - and very effective - technique of superimposing pen-and-ink drawings on photos of modern-day existing castle ruins to show what the original structure looked like. Loaded with illustrations, the text brings to life the original reason for building castles: defense against enemies. Extensive architectural drawings are reminiscent of David Macauley's detailed work, though the text is much more advanced than Macauley. The extent of the author's research is stunning. For students and admirers of medieval castles, castle life, architecture, and military weapons and strategy, this book will be a rich resource. Ages 14-adult.Out of print -- If you love old castles, hurry and get one of the last used copies available!

Illustrated guide to the development of English castles.
This is an excellent overview of the development of castle architecture and fortifications technology from the dark ages through the wide adoption of gunpowder. The historical narrative is that of English politics, and all the castles described are located within England and Wales, but the general story will be of interest to any medievalist. Sancha's peculiar (in the sense that I've never seen anyone else do it) device is placing drawings atop photographs of existing buildings. Her reconstructions of now-ruined architecture andintroductions of people into the pictures effectively draw her readers into the world she wishes to portray. ... Read more

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The essential family guide to the best castles to visit in Britain and Ireland.Discover the fascinating history and outstanding architecture of over 100 castles, from romantic ruins to royal homes.Learn about the role castles played in history and what life inside them would really have been like.Find out about visitor attractions, from museum collections and manicured gardens to re-enactment events - to make the most of days out with the family. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A great start to planning your castle visiting trip
I agree that this book doesn't provide an exhaustive amount of information, but I found it to be a great place to start when narrowing down my list of castles to visit on vacation. I made a google map based on it. I don't think I'm allowed to post the URL in a review, but if you use tinyurl you can get to it by going to the main tinyurl web address and then typing 5b8aue after the forward slash.

Very Little Information; A Shallow Attempt At The Subject
I have quite a few books on British castles, and this book is by quite a wide margin, the least useful. The book makes a shallow attempt to cover 100 castles in its small format. We are left with maybe a couple paragraphs and a miniscule picture for each. Glamis and Fyvie, for example, are undoubtably two of the most splendid architectural marvels in all of Britian, yet are covered in the space of one small page(and I mean small, the page size is approximately 5 x 7 inches). Another example of this book inadequacies, is the picture of Fyvie. A magnificient example of French Baronial architecture, this photo is about one inch by two inches, and there isn't even a picture of arguably the most popular and splendid castle in all of Britian, if not the world, Glamis! How on earth one can write a book of the subject and not include at least one photo of Glamis is mind boggling. Also, every single photo is an exterior view; not one, single interior photo. I guess the photos (one inch by two inches no doubt) of the interiors of the castles could be another book? Give me a break. This book is a joke. Pass on this lame attempt and find a real book on the subject...

A Colorful Introduction to British Castles
This book, Best Castles, is, I thought, a congenial introduction to ye olde English, Scots & Wales fortresses. The small color photos are nice, and the text is concise & well-written, giving historical background. There are also in-depth pages on castle life at different times. I used this book to pick out some other British single-castle guidebooks from Amazon U.S. and U.K., such as Hever Castle (where Henry VIII & Ann Boleyn met) with its modern Tudor village.

Lovely book
Gorgeous photos, nice descriptions, but too short & not detailed enough. It would also have helped to have had captions under the photos; I frequently couldn't tell what I was looking at. I also wished it were longer. Overall a worthwhile book if a little on the shallow side.

Get a preview before you visit
I am a big fan of ruined castles. I like ancient, crumbling old buildings from times long past. There are many such castles in the British Isles, but there are also many more "modern" castles, built hundreds of years after the medieval period, filled with sumptuous carpets and luxurious wall coverings and such. I can see the allure of these castles for some people, but they do not hold the same wonder for me, and when I am paying a lot of money to visit a foreign country, I want to optimize my experience as much as possible.

This book is wonderful because it lets me do just that. Many guidebooks (I use the Let's Go and Rough Guides) do not differentiate between different kinds of castles, and offer a brief description of each one. It's hard to know what you're getting into before you actually arrive. With this book, you can get a preview of each castle, so you're never surprised. I mentioned my personal love of ruins, but this book is great for any taste, or just the curious.

The information on each structure is sparse, and much attention is paid to the glorious full color photographs. I never got the impression this book was trying to be the authority on castle information however, and I think it succeeds admirably at its chosen task. It is a good supplemental guidebook if you're interested in the topic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

THE ULTIMATE REFERENCE BOOK
Castles of Britain and Ireland by Plantagenet Somerset Fry is the most important and most used book in my library.Not only is it a great read front to back but is invaluable as a reference when reading any history book about Britain and Ireland. It covers every aspect of Castles; The History, the people, the construction, the defenses, and even the art of attacking a castle, including seige engines.When I travel to Britain this book will be in my backpack.

The best book on british castles I had ever read!
A very good book, Castles of Britain and Ireland: The Ultimate Reference Book contains exelent quality photographs, and contains information of almost every known castle on Britain and Ireland. It talks about theirevolution through the years and about the people involved on theirconstruction. I greatly recommend it to anyone interested on knowing moreabout british castles, its information is very clear and easy tounderstand. If you are a castle fan, this is a must-have book. ... Read more

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This guide features over 1200 sites throughout Britain and Ireland, including members of the Historic Houses Association and those administered by the National Trust, English Heritage, and the National Trust for Scotland. Established since 1954, this title also includes a collection of European historic houses and castles open to the public. Entires are clearly presented and illustrated by county, allowing the reader to search for places to visit in a particular area. The book provides a calendar of events, properties licensed for civil marriages, a list of where to stay, properties open all year round, where to find art collections, and advice on the best cream teas, and the best places to go with children. Johansens inspectors monitor the standard of these establishments, which are inspected at least once a year. ... Read more

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Extensively illustrated with photographs, plans and period engravings, Michael Thompson's book examines the decline of the castle as both fortification and seigneurial residence over the two and a half centuries that preceded the Civil War. In general, this was a period in which function played less and less part and display - even fantasy - ever more in the minds of castle builders. Although few new castles were built in England after 1400, the growing power of artillery and continuing warfare in Scotland and across the Channel in France continued to provide stimuli to fresh architectural development. Dr Thompson relates alterations in design to contemporary social changes and devotes particular attention to the rapid decline of Tudor times and to the massive destruction wrought by Parliamentary forces during the Civil War and Commonwealth. A concluding chapter examines the enticing quality the image of the castle has continued to hold over the intervening three centuries and examines some remarkable latterday examples of the genre, among them Burges' Castell Coch in Glamorgan and, in this century, Lutyens' Castle Drogo. ... Read more

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Neo-Norman Penrhyn Castle, built in the 1830s, stands between the Menai Straits and the Snowdonian mountains. This book tells the history of the estate since Medieval times and the rise of the Pennant family who channelled their wealth into creating the vast building. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Scarcely any photos--most disappointing!
Wow, what a tremendous disappointment!Big coffee table book, feels hefty, looks like it'll be a treasure trove of Gothic architecture . . . and yet not.The entire book has exactly ONE full-page, full-color photo of the interior of Strawberry Hill.The rest of the book is more like a scholarly work, with small photos of wallpaper fragments, engravings of Walpole and his family and friends, close-ups of some interesting bits and piece of architectural detail, and lots and lots of text.There's nothing wrong with that; but what a false carrot to dangle in front of the architecturally-inclined reader ("Gothic" and "castle" together in one title--be still, my heart!).If ever a book deserved a subtitle, it's this one--and it should have been something along the lines of, "A Scholarly Overview" or something equally dry, to suit the book.What a great opportunity the authors missed in not showing the world more of the WHOLE of Walpole's beautiful castle. ... Read more

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Explore the living history of the British Isles in this unparalleled compendium of kings, queens and rulers, which also traces the development of one of the finest architectural legacies in Europe from earliest times to the present day. ... Read more

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"....Scone Palace is among the most historic spots in Scotland. Every feeling man or woman of Scottish descent from all over the world must sense they have truly come home at last when they first set foot here. For Scone is not only our geographical centre but was long our capital..." This volume examines the history of Scone, a tour of the palace and the history of the Murray clan whose family history permeated the story and royalty of Scone Palace from the 1100's. The text is fully in English with over 30 full color and black & white plates. ... Read more